By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
While the yearly tradition of Camp Hope will not take place at Camp Aldrich near Great Bend this summer, KyMel staff is looking forward to returning to Barton County and Camp Aldrich in 2022.
Camp Hope started in 1983 to provide a free, traditional summer camp experience for youth who have, or have had, cancer. KyMel is the nonprofit that oversees both Camp Hope and Camp SIBsational, a camp for siblings of youth with cancer.
Due to circumstances outside of KyMel’s control, Camp Hope is relocating this year only to Elmdale, Kansas.
Gail Moeder, KyMel Vice President, said the organization was not able
to secure the number of volunteers necessary to operate Camp Hope at Camp
Aldrich because of COVID-19 requirements.
"We're missing critical volunteers in certain areas so we couldn't make camp happen at Camp Aldrich," said Moeder. "We reserved enough spots at Camp Wood near Elmdale for Camp SIBsational. We were lucky enough to make all the puzzle pieces fit to get all our campers there."
While Camp Hope relies 100% on volunteers, Camp Wood is operated
through the YMCA. Although separate, the two camps will run simultaneously in
August near Elmdale.
"Camp Wood is a YMCA camp," said Moeder. "Their staff runs all the activities. We'll rotate differently for activities and meal time. The site is set up so you can run two or three camps on the campgrounds at the same time."
This year’s Camp Hope and Camp SIBsational will occur Aug. 1-7.