The Making of an MDA Summer Camp Counselor

by Tara Wood

Whether it's in Alabama or Alaska, MDA summer camp promises a week of fun, friendship and freedom for kids affected by neuromuscular diseases.

But you're guaranteed to find something else at every camp: a team of tireless volunteers who are the key to making a memorable and seamless week.

Although they sometimes seem superhuman, MDA summer camp volunteers don't just magically appear on arrival day. In fact, finding the ideal people to serve as unit (cabin) leaders, counselors and in other roles has become an almost year-round process. More than 4,000 youngsters ages 6-21 attend MDA summer camp each year, and 5,000-plus volunteers are selected to assist them.

While the details may differ slightly, every MDA office follows a finely tuned set of rules and procedures for finding volunteers for what campers call "the best week of the year."

Camp programs in Tacoma, Wash., and Houston provide examples of the intricate process of recruiting, screening, selecting and training volunteers.

LOOKING FOR A FEW GREAT COUNSELORS

It's a tall order to be an MDA camp counselor — someone who is paired with one camper 24 hours a day for the week of camp, and whose goal is making the experience as much fun as possible for that camper. MDA looks for people who can fulfill many specific responsibilities and duties in addition to meeting their campers' emotional and physical needs.

A counselor must be able to view his or her camper as the most important person and the focus of the week, to put the camper's needs and interests before his or her own, and to provide complete support (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social) in all aspects of the camp program. Counselors must also be able to follow directions; be open-minded, flexible, energetic, fun-loving, positive and solution-oriented; and be able to communicate well with young people.

Recruitment of camp volunteers usually begins shortly after camp ends in the summer, and revs up in earnest in the fall.

MDA staff begin by running ads, sending press releases and posting fliers asking those interested to call MDA. Camp volunteers must be 16 or older, able to lift a child, and willing to provide around-the-clock care and close supervision for kids with neuromuscular diseases.

"We get the information to schools, hospitals, grocery stores — places where people who are of camp volunteer age might be working and see it and become interested," said Anne Swisher, MDA's Houston area health care services coordinator and camp director.

In addition, MDA staff often contact groups or businesses that could recommend an appropriate person. For instance, they might call a school counselor or the person in charge of a club like the National Honor Society and ask them to recommend someone. (In both Tacoma and Houston, volunteer camp counselors average 19 or 20 in age.)

Often the best sources of new volunteers are the volunteers themselves, said Swisher, who has directed 14 camps.

"If they're a great person, they're going to know great people. Responsible people know responsible people," Swisher said.

Once a person calls with interest in the camp program, the screening process begins. Thorough checks into references provided by the applicant, and, where possible, a criminal background check, are just the beginning.

Before a potential volunteer can even receive a camp application packet from Rosemary Owens, MDA health care services coordinator in Tacoma, he or she must first undergo a brief phone interview with Owens.

Owens, who has coordinated MDA summer camps for 26 years, said she always asks potential volunteers why they want to be camp volunteers.

Answers such as "my case manager says I need to do community service," or "my mom wants me to do something this summer," or even a vague "I love children," can eliminate certain individuals right off the bat, Owens said.

While there's no list of right answers, MDA staff are encouraged by applicants who have experience with or a special interest in working with children with disabilities (for example, they know someone or have a family member with a disability or a neuromuscular disease). Others might be on track for careers in the medical or therapeutic professions, while others might simply have had great summer camp experiences of their own that they'd like to make happen for children with disabilities.

Through the phone interview, Owens gets a preliminary application, including permission to run a criminal background check. In Washington, background checks are based on driver's license numbers.

Every state's criminal background checking procedure is different; some states mandate a check for anyone who volunteers to work with children. MDA's policy is to run a check on camp volunteers through law enforcement or other agencies wherever it's available by means other than fingerprinting. Convictions or other criminal history can automatically eliminate an applicant.

This preliminary selection is designed to screen out applicants who aren't compatible with MDA's commitment to maintaining the safety and well-being of campers and the camp community.

THE BONDS ARE THE BONUS Camp Volunteers Take Home Lasting Friendships Chris Schlechty at the Bondys' wedding When Tina Bondy first met Chris Schlechty, it would be fair to say, the two didn't exactly hit it off. Bondy, a volunteer for the past 14 summers at Tacoma's MDA summer camp, remembers Schlechty initially as "a pain in the butt" and "one of those sarcastic kids who gives you a hard time about everything." Schlechty, who was 9 when Bondy was his camp unit leader, said, "I probably was a pain in the butt, but that is just because I kept playing practical jokes on her, and most of them worked." Things turned around, however, at the dance on the final night of camp, for which a local sponsor had given all the campers imitation roses that lit up. Bondy asked him to dance, and he offered her his rose. "He said, 'I've been such a pain in your butt all week, I want to give you this.' And I just lost it," said Bondy, 31, of Kirkland, Wash. She is a paralegal for Starbucks Coffee Company and attends law school. Since then, the two have built a meaningful friendship and keep in touch year-round. Most people who volunteer to be MDA summer camp counselors know they're in for a week of unrelenting hard work. But, like Bondy, many also get a payback that could never be measured in dollars. In addition to Schlechty, now 16, Bondy also met her husband-to-be, Lloyd, when she volunteered to help MDA staff reorganize a camp in Alaska. Lloyd Bondy is also a dedicated camp volunteer, and things came full circle when Schlechty was in Lloyd's cabin last year. The Bondys felt it would be especially fitting to make Schlechty a part of their wedding last summer. He gladly accepted the job of guest book attendant. "I've known Tina for a long time now and Lloyd for a year, and being there at their wedding meant a lot to me," said Schlechty, who lives in Carnation, Wash., and has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Parents of campers should feel at ease because of the detailed process of selecting camp volunteers, Bondy said. "We take so many extra precautions to make sure that they have, number one, the best week of the year or of the summer, and that they don't get hurt doing it," she said. To Schlechty, camp counselors are more than just people who keep campers out of trouble. "To me, the counselors are also role models. Tina is moving into the final years of her law school, and another friend of mine has started on her way to become a doctor. Other counselors are fire fighters and Marines," he said. Setting a positive example and being a role model is just part of the fun for Bondy. "It's been a huge part of my life. I couldn't imagine going a year without it," Bondy said.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF...

Next, in-depth personal interviews are scheduled for those who submit application packets. Volunteer applications, by the way, are 11 pages long, and applicants must get a doctor's exam.

Interviews can last as long as two hours, as potential volunteers are questioned by MDA staff, returning camp unit leaders and senior counselors, or other MDA leaders.

Questions are designed not only to get to know as much as possible about applicants, but to see how they would respond in certain situations.

Potential volunteers are asked hypothetical questions, such as: What would you do if you saw a camper sitting on the sidelines not participating in an activity? Or, describe a situation in which a peer asked you to do something that you knew you shouldn't, and how you handled it.

"We tried to structure it so we would have answers that helped us make better decisions. For our hypothetical questions, there aren't any really right answers, but there certainly are some wrong answers," said Swisher, who has worked in personnel administration.

The more that people who are familiar with camp and MDA's mission get involved with the interview, the better, MDA staffers say.

"I have found that having more people's opinions about a particular person was very important," Owens said. "If more than one person gets a bad feeling about an applicant, then that's enough for me [to rule the person out]."

During the interviews, MDA staff try to explain exactly what's expected of a volunteer so applicants can decide whether camp is right for them.

"A lot of the recruitment process is the education of what we really expect, what a typical day is, and that people aren't alone at camp — there are plenty of people there to assist and advise them," including a volunteer medical staff, she said.

The personal care and hygiene that a counselor must provide for a camper is often the biggest stumbling block for a potential volunteer. For that reason, Swisher's office has developed an exit form on which interviewees can candidly write down any concerns they have.

CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'VE BEEN SELECTED

It may be hard to imagine a nonprofit organization rejecting someone who's willing to donate time and effort to a program as special as MDA summer camp. But that's part of the process.

"Years ago when we didn't have the same number of scares in society that we do now, probably all interviewing was different. It may have been more of an assumed thing if someone chose to volunteer," Swisher said.

"We've spent a lot of years helping people to know that this is an actual selection process."

In fact, not even previous volunteers are guaranteed positions every summer.

Fortunately, MDA is often faced with choosing among multiple qualified candidates to fill each volunteer opening.

After personal interviews are completed, Owens said, she and her staff gather to begin matching campers with counselors.

"This is one of the most crucial elements," said Owens, who last year did the matching with fellow MDA Health Care Services Coordinator Leslie Boback, two senior volunteers and a camp nurse. "We sat around the table and did this puzzle match. We do a pretty good job because we know our kids, and the volunteers will see three to four people in one interview session so we should have a great idea."

Then a letter of congratulations is sent to new counselors.

ORIENTATION AND TRAINING

As the big week of summer camp draws near, unit leaders get in touch with counselors to start taking care of details. Then, the entire MDA camp staff gathers for official training and orientation (some hold orientation about a week or two before camp, others hold it the day before campers arrive).

Orientation for new counselors is a six- or seven-hour process, while returning counselors are required to attend about half the day.

Subjects covered include lifting techniques, camp rules and procedures, safety and ways to minimize risk (such as the buddy system).

Counselors also attend sessions presented by camp staff who run swimming pools or other special activities, and the volunteer medical staff. They might also take part in activities designed for team building.

Counselors also watch two videos: "The Right Way to Care," about proper care techniques for children with neuromuscular diseases, and "The Envelope of Safety," which gives guidelines for sensitive issues like discipline and camper-counselor contact. Afterward, counselors sign forms that state they understand the guidelines and concepts presented in the videos.

In many cities, camp counselor orientation also includes two guest speakers — a camper and a parent of a camper.

The parent usually speaks about what the counselor's role means to them, and how much they rely on and trust them to take care of their child. The camper talks about appropriate ways to care for and treat campers.

These two speakers usually make the biggest impact on counselors during orientation, Swisher said.

Once a parent told counselors to remember that "all the things that you will do for my son for that week, I will be doing for the next 51," Swisher said. "They heard from a camper, 'My dignity is important, so if I tell you that I have to go to the bathroom, don't roll your eyes and say, oh no, not again.'"

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL

Beyond the training, counselors are continuously evaluated during the camp.

"We look at every one of our counselors as being a future leadership person," Owens said, noting that unit leaders and other senior camp staff are literally jotting notes in a journal all week.

Unit leaders take stock of a counselor's strengths and weaknesses, and counselors get a chance to evaluate their leadership staff.

Evaluations are just one more element in a system that's designed to create the best experience possible for youngsters at MDA camp.

Owens said that such organization is the key to keeping quality volunteers.

"We are blessed with good people, and they come back each year because it is organized," she said. "We've developed this over the years because it's a wonderfully structured system if you use it right."

That structure is one more reason why parents should be able to relax while their youngsters spend a week at camp.

"I think that parents should feel good about the caliber of volunteers that MDA selects because, really, it is a selection process," Swisher said.

Volunteers can gain just as much from their experience, beginning with disability awareness.

"I think what we do is build better citizens, and better people," Swisher said. "There's not a single person who comes to camp who doesn't go away saying — even though we told them — 'I had no idea these kids were just like other kids.'"