Camp Wonder Hands seeks volunteers, counselors, 1st-time campers

Volunteers, volunteer counselors, campers and community support are needed for Camp Wonder Hands, a six-day, five-night camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing children ages 7-15. Held at Camp Kinard, near Batesburg-Leesville, the camp is a program of Prisma Health Children's Hospital-Midlands and is set for June 21-26. The deadline for counselor applications is March 9 and is March 30 for campers.

Camp Wonder Hands is offered at no cost to campers. To serve as a volunteer or volunteer counselor, a person does not have to be deaf, hard of hearing or have the ability to sign. Training is provided during an orientation session held just before the camp.

Children like Elliott Germany have been helped by attending Camp Wonder Hands. The first time he was invited, he was very reluctant.

"He's very shy around strangers, so it was hard to persuade him to go," said Elliott's mother, Carla Germany.

Elliott is the youngest of Carla's four children, and she learned during Elliott's newborn screening that he was deaf. He had cochlear implant surgery when he was 15 months old, but the first sound he heard after the surgery was a fire truck with the sirens blaring, so he refused to wear the cochlear implant until he started school.

Now 16, Elliott has attended Camp Wonder Hands for the past nine years.

"He absolutely loved his first experience there and now looks forward to it every summer," Carla said. "He loves interacting with the other kids."

Elliott signs and speaks and likes having an interpreter.

"He appreciates having an interpreter so much that we arranged to have one at his grandfather's funeral," Carla said. "It's amazing what you learn about your child as he grows up."

Elliott especially loves the water sports at camp and also enjoys making arts and crafts. He attends the School for the Deaf and Blind in the Upstate and wants to work in a library after he finishes school.

"He loves to be helpful," Carla said.

Carla encourages parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children to consider Camp Wonder Hands.

"Your child will have a great time," she said. "We heard about it from a friend, and we are so thankful to have this opportunity for Elliott."

For more information about Camp Wonder Hands, call (803) 296-KIDS (5437) for information and applications or visit PalmettoHealthChildrens.org/programs/camp-wonder-hands.