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PEACEKEEPER PARK, A Living
Memorial was originally founded with the
sole purpose of honouring our Canadian Peacekeepers,
past and present, and educating the Canadian public
regarding the sacrifices and accomplishments of these
Peacekeepers over the past fifty plus years. It
wasn't until a year into our existence that we evolved
and undertook two additional objectives, both involving
the Park with the youth of our country. It was a
natural extension of our original purpose as Canadian
Peacekeepers have constantly volunteered their time,
efforts, and hearts to the children of the countries in
which their missions took them. One of our
additional objectives was to provide an integrated, positive summer
experience for physically, mentally and behaviourally
challenged Canadian teenagers at Peacekeeper Park.
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During July, 2003, we conducted our
Special Adventure Camp Pilot Program with 20 participants from the Western
Ontario area and with a staff made up totally of volunteers. We were supported by the
Ontario Trillium Foundation and thus were able to provide all the equipment
required for the seven day program. The young people slept in tents, spent
a night in the bush and watched deer in
the morning while they ate breakfast, had numerous campfires, went canoeing and
swimming in beautiful Lake Whittaker, participated in craft classes, learned how
to fish and how to use a map and a compass, crossed rope bridges, abseiled off
the tower, shot air rifles, participated in archery lessons, learned more about
nature, the environment and themselves and made some very good friends. It
was a fantastic week for the participants and for the staff and, when it was
over, we knew that this program had to not only continue but to grow. |
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In July of 2004, Peacekeeper Park conducted two camps, the
first of which was fairly similar to the previous year's except that this year's
camp was fully integrated. Lessons learned from 2003 were applied during the
planning and implementation stages. Our facilities continued to grow,
slowly but surely and more volunteers expressed a desire to work with us.
Our second camp saw many of our first year campers being invited to return for
an expanded and even more challenging program than their first one. The
number of campers more than doubled and more volunteers were, of course, needed.
In July of 2005, Peacekeeper Park's Adventure Camp introduced
a third program, the "Leaders in Training" (LIT) group and invited a number of
our more experienced campers to return for a two week course to qualify them to
be a Level 5 Counsellor. A second Trillium grant helped to provide the
additional equipment required as well as some major fund raising activities by
our Special Adventure Camp committee. In addition, we operated a first
year camp, now called the "Explorers" camp and a second year camp, now called
the "Voyagers". It was the hottest summer on record for over 80 years and
yet the three camps were a resounding success. At any given time, there
were over 100 people at the Park enjoying the camps offered to them.
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We are currently in the planning stages for the 2008 camps and plan
on offering Explorers, Voyagers and LIT programs again this year.
For the safety of the campers and councellors, we have now put a
limit on the number of young people we will accept until such time
as we can provide more facilities. If you would like to send a
young person to camp, or if you wish to apply as a volunteer, please
contact us as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
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