Butler Blue III

The pride of Indianapolis is undoubtedly Butler University's mascot, Blue III. He is an English Bulldog and like his breed, he takes terrific photos.

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This is Blue at St. Elmo Steak House. Good day, sir!

One Month to Go

My end-of-service date with AmeriCorps and Jameson Camp is July 28th. That means I have less than one month to go. 😡

It's been a lot of fun here...I'll save the sappy comments for the end though!

Dan Dan the Birthday Man

Yesterday our Executive Director, Dan, celebrated his birthday. All of the campers were gathered in the Jameson Center and we surprised him by yelling HAPPY BIRTHDAY when he walked in.

The cake was a masterpiece...

Happy Birthday, Dan!

Ice Bucket Challenge

Two Jameson counselors recently participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge:

Sinkhole Update

It was a very fast 2-3 weeks for the road workers. They filled the sinkhole in a few days and traffic on Bridgeport Rd. has resumed. We now return to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

Sinkhole

The past few years there have been quite a few stories of roads caving in.

In 2003, there was the Lisbon, Portugal sinkhole which was 30 ft. deep.

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In 2008, there was the 40 ft. deep Picher, Oklahoma sinkhole.

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In 2010, a 300 ft. deep pit opened up in Guatemala City.

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And now, in 2017, the newest major sinkhole has appeared...

 

THE BRIDGEPORT ROAD SINKHOLE

Ok, so maybe it's not as intimidating as the other sinkholes, but it did cause traffic to be re-routed. A sewer collapse caused the hole and it should take crews about 2 weeks to fix the damage.

This sinkhole is about 50 yards from the Jameson Camp main entrance and this morning some of the gals took the opportunity to pose for a picture.

Nothing brings people together like a sinkhole. This photo will almost certainly be photoshopped into something more befitting of a disaster scene. Wait for it...

In Common

Fun fact from yesterday...

Breanna and I have each had only two medical incidents in our lives. We've each broken a wrist AND chipped a front tooth! We were between the ages of 11 and 13 when they happened.

I have a history with Asurne' and apparently one with Breanna too!

Overnight Session 2 Recap

Summer Camp is already 3 weeks complete!

Mother Nature...

is beautiful.

Children's Walk

Yesterday, employees from Roche Diagnostics participated in the Children's Walk that benefits Jameson Camp among other organizations.

Thank you to everyone who withstood the outdoor sauna!

Flag Day

You've heard of the founding fathers...Betsy Ross should be considered our founding mother. Thanks to her we have this beautiful flag to celebrate our wonderful country.

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Let Old Glory fly high today!

Time Travel

This week's camp theme is Time Travel where our campers will journey to decades and time periods both old and new. They might even find their way to the activities of 1928 which is the year Jameson Camp opened.

Let's take a trip back to 1928 in the U.S.:

• Calvin 'Klein' Coolidge was President.
• The animated short Plane Crazy is released by Disney, featuring the first appearances of power couple Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
• Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
• The Tuberculosis Association Fresh Air Camp served its first 50 children. It is what we now call...Jameson Camp!

National Loving Day

This wasn't too long ago...how the times have changed. From the National Day Calendar website:

Childhood friends, Mildred and Richard, met when she was 11, and he was 17.  Over the years they began courting and in 1958 when she turned 18, they married in Washington. They returned to their hometown north of Richmond and two weeks later, not realizing that interracial marriage was illegal, they were arrested.  Mildred and Richard Loving pleaded guilty and to avoid jail time; they agreed to leave Virginia.

The Loving’s moved to Washington D.C. and started legal action writing to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.  Kennedy referred the case on to the American Civil Liberties Union. The Warren Court unanimously ruled in their favor, and the Loving’s returned to their Virginia home where they resided with their three children.

Overnight Session 1 Recap

The first overnight group had a fun week!

Feeling Crafty

The Women's Auxiliary helped some Jameson campers this week with craft projects...

Small World

Jameson Camp's newest Development & Communications Manager is Asurne' Johnson.

Asurne' completed her Master's degree in Philanthropic Studies from Indiana University. When not working, she enjoys spending time with family, cooking, reading and enjoying the city.

Welcome, Asurne'!

By the way, yesterday Asurne' and I learned that we went to the same high school in Cincinnati! She graduated 3 years after I did and there's a chance we saw each other in the halls at some point. Small world, indeed.

Overnight Session 1

Here are some photos from the first few days of Overnight Session 1:

 

Marketing Intern

This smiling face belongs to Breanna Bobbitt, Jameson Camp's newest Marketing Intern.

She will graduate from Ball State University in July with a double major in News Journalism and Telecommunications and a minor in Sociology. At Jameson she will help create camper stories and videos. If she likes to laugh and talk to stuffed animals, she'll fit right in!

Two Bee or not Two Bee

Before Erin left, she passed on a bee to me that had been passed on to her by the previous VISTAs. The bee had allegedly been dead for a few years and was still in great shape. On Friday, I watched a bee fall to the ground outside so I went and picked it up. I thought to myself, "Wow, these bees are dropping like flies."

Giving Back Through Service

Jameson Camp’s mission is ‘To enrich the lives of Indiana youth by inspiring them to discover their strengths.’ These Indiana youth often come from disadvantaged backgrounds. They’re children who have faced more adversity in their young lives than many of us will ever know. When children overcome their obstacles and look back on how they made it, they often point to one person who inspired them. It could have been a family member or a teacher or a coach. Roche employee Bonnie Woodfork is one of those inspirational women who has found a way to give back to others.

Bonnie was born in Gary, Indiana. Like much of the city, Bonnie’s neighborhood was very depressed. She didn’t have many of the amenities that a lot of kids are accustomed to having today. Not only did Bonnie face challenges outside of her home, but there was a healthy dose of adversity inside as well. Born to a mother who was disabled from a car accident and unable to care for herself, Bonnie’s legal guardian was her aunt, whom she calls her ‘aunt-mom.’ The family didn’t have much money but they did the best with what they had. Unfortunately tragedy struck when Bonnie’s aunt-mom lost her husband. After that happened, her aunt-mom took a turn for the worse and was also unable to take care of herself.

Now, as an adult and with her legal guardian in need of care, Bonnie wanted to give back to the woman who had given her so much. To ensure her aunt-mom received the proper care, Bonnie wanted to apply for legal guardianship. She realized that this was her purpose, to be the ‘daughter’ her aunt-mom never had naturally. And by applying for adult guardianship, her life would come in full circle. Bonnie’s selfless act was not received well by other family members. The adversity of dealing with two parental figures in need of care was only magnified by family conflict. However, as a strong-willed woman, Bonnie overcame these obstacles. She said, “The upbringing that my aunt and biological mother gave me and the adversity I’ve faced having to care for them made me a better woman with a passion to help other people.”

Eventually Bonnie became the legal guardian of her aunt-mom and moved her from Gary to Indianapolis. Bonnie was able to keep watch over her aunt-mom when she moved her into a facility that was right down the street from where she worked. “It opened up so divinely,” she recalls. Bonnie was able to take care of her aunt-mom until she passed away in March 2015. With her biological mom’s passing previously in December 2014, Bonnie was again questioning her purpose. “When I was young, I often said that I didn’t know what I would do if I lost my mom and aunt-mom.” However, it came to Bonnie shortly after her aunt-mom’s passing that her purpose is to continue caring for people. Since then, Bonnie has been traveling on a path of giving back to others and looking for ways to serve as a role model for youth, in particular young women who may be facing some of the same struggles she has gone through.

Bonnie is a member of the Roche Diagnostics’ Women’s Leadership Initiative, where she learned of the board membership opportunity with Jameson Camp. Roche and Jameson Camp have a partnership that includes the annual Roche Children’s Walk so Bonnie decided to research the camp further. She spoke with fellow Roche employee and Jameson board member, John Sullivan, and learned that her personal mission to help youth in need and the camp’s mission were one and the same.

Most of the children that Jameson Camp serves come from disadvantaged backgrounds; 78% of the summer campers are eligible for free or reduced lunches. Additionally, 51% come to camp from single-parent households and 62% have been diagnosed with a disorder like ADHD or Autism. Jameson Camp is also the only camp in Indiana that offers a special summer session for children impacted by HIV/AIDS. The supportive environment Jameson provides to all the children it serves allows them to gain valuable social skills while experiencing the joys of being a youth. As someone who knows the importance of a supportive environment, Bonnie is doing her part to spread camp awareness. “We are ambassadors for the camp,” she said. “I’m often letting my friends, family and co-workers know about Jameson Camp. We want to spread the word to get people to volunteer or come out and visit the camp.”

For Bonnie, board membership is about giving back. “It’s about compassion and being a role model for young kids and supporting one of the most valuable programs in our community,” she said. From adverse childhood to responsible adulthood, Jameson Camp helps transform lives and Bonnie wants to be the ambassador to share its message. “To see these kids go from little and often troubled 7 year-olds to confident 18-year-olds is really inspiring,” she said. “Jameson helps make a difference in these kids’ lives. It gives them hope and the skills to pursue their goals. As board members, staff and volunteers, we need to carry the mission into the community and make people more aware of the impact this camp provides.”

Bonnie Woodfork personifies the desire to give back to the community that Roche strives to support and encourage. Way to go, Bonnie Woodfork.

Happy June!

This is what a happy June looks like...

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