Camp for All celebrating 30 years of transforming lives

BURTON, Texas (KBTX) – There’s a place where even the impossible is possible. It’s Camp For All in Burton, and it’s celebrating 30 years of providing healing and recreational activities to kids and adults with special needs and other disabilities.

Some of those activities include zip lining, swimming, horseback riding and music production.

The camp also works to remove barriers many campers may face on a daily basis, like having 8-feet wide sidewalks to ensure those in wheelchairs have plenty of space to get around.

The camp’s development director, Mary Beth Mosley, said everything about the camp is intended to make campers feel special and important.

“Research that we’ve done at Camp for All through Texas A&M found that our campers leave with a sense of hope, more self confidence and because they’re surrounded with others who share their challenge, they realize they’re not alone,” Mosley said.

Since Camp for All’s opening in 1998, it’s served more than 180,00 campers.

David Hernandez has been a camper for over 15 years. Throughout his time at the 206-acre camp, he’s become more confident and independent. He’s grown so much that he served as a junior camp counselor.

“I would help make sure the campers’ beds were fixed up before the director came in,” Hernandez said.

Mary Claire Huntington has been attending camp for about seven years. She’s loved the relationships she’s built during her time as a camper.

“My girls love me the most because I am the best camper ever,” Huntington said.

Hernandez and Huntington share similar stories with many campers, according to Mosley. They use the tools they learn from Camp For All and continue to blossom when they return home.

“Many of our campers, their lives are prescribed,” said Mosley. “Someone is telling them when to get up, where to go, what to do, what to eat, here’s your appointments, here’s your schedule. Then they come to camp, and they get to make choices like what am I wearing today, how do I want to try to catch this fish down at the lake, do I want to do the zip line or am I a little scared. All of those things are choices that these campers get to make and that independence is just priceless.”

To learn more about Camp for All, click here. Information and updates can also be found on the camp’s Facebook and Instagram.