A Place to Share: Lending a Helping Hand

The Gift Ark

If the campers and counselors were successful in achieving this goal, the camp would donate a Heifer Gift Ark that would be filled with more than thirty-four farm animals. The Gift Ark would go right to work supporting Heifer's entire mission while offering hope worldwide to families who are poor and hungry. Since it began in 1944, Heifer has given animals, training, and technical assistance to more than 4 million impoverished families in 125 countries. The Gift Ark sends farm animals on a voyage wherever they are most needed, to help families start on their journey to fulfilling what was once an impossible dream — to secure food and a source of dependable income.

Sewataro's Helping Hands started with each camper group searching for its farm animal somewhere in camp (a stuffed animal — symbolic of the gift animal they would help board the Ark on Friday). Each group was also assigned a buddy group. In the spirit of Heifer, the campers had to focus on being kind to others in their group and to those in their newly assigned partner group. The campers had some fun answering Heifer Trivia questions to get some extra points at the end of each day. All of camp was able to check the ARK-O-METER each day to see how the whole camp was doing at meeting the goal of 5000 points!

The Wall of Kindness

The campers used a variety of colors to decorate animal banners with messages of hope, good wishes, and lists of good deeds they could all do to help others. The camp's thirty-four banners were collected and posted on the Wall of Kindness for everyone to see. In addition to being kind and giving to others, the campers focused on the importance of caring for the earth and making sure they did their part in helping to preserve it. All the groups had a trash pick-up day around camp as they went through their daily schedules.

A Positive Focus Pays Off

The activities came to a close during Friday's Special Event when campers participated in relay races and games that incorporated working together and sportsmanship. The festivities ended with a counselor parade and the loading of the Gift Ark (our own scaled down version of the ark). The campers were surprised when they gathered for the announcement of the final point total, and they were 500 points short of the 5,000 point goal. Excitement grew when they received a letter from Alba Taylor, the founder of Camp Sewataro, which told them how they could earn an extra 500 points to put them over the top. All 140 counselors led the camp in a spirited Green Alligators sing-along (a favorite camp song that talks about the ark). The energy and spirit that filled the Long House, a rainy-day shelter that houses the entire camp and staff, was incredible. Needless to say, the campers and counselors did such a fantastic job that they did get all 5000 points!

Ruth Nelson, a Heifer International volunteer, visited the camp to accept our $5,000 donation and to thank the campers for their participation in Sewataro's Helping Hands program. Nelson congratulated the campers, "I have never seen this many children so focused around something so positive. It is great to see that you care so much about each other and the world."