Camp Deer Run does not offer “cookie-cutter” programs, but rather specializes in designing programming that addresses the needs and objectives of each client.  Special programs designed by Camp Deer Run have included the following:

Camp for the Children of Military Families With a Parent Deployed Overseas

During the summer of 2007 Camp Deer Run offered a program sponsored by the National Military Family Association for children of U.S. military families that had a parent who either was at the time, had previously been, or was scheduled to be, deployed overseas to combat zones.  Military service today is particularly difficult for the children of parents serving away from home, because of the frequent, and very visible, media accounts of battle casualties, and the resulting awareness that there is the possibility that a parent may never come home.  The program was labeled “Operation Purple” by the NMFA, “purple” being military terminology that refers to the sum total of all of the uniformed services.    

The program consisted of two separate camp sessions, a two-week program for teenagers, and one-week for children aged 9 to 11 years old.  The teenagers, especially, were aware of the possible consequences of parental deployment, with expected, resulting psychological difficulties.  Nevertheless, Operation Purple at Camp Deer Run gave campers the opportunity to see that they are not alone and to bond with one another in mutual support.  In addition to traditional camp activities, tours of a nearby military base, West Point and other historical military sites were included in the program, and military speakers gave presentations on overseas deployment from a parent’s perspective.  Trained counselors were on site to address any camper's psychological problems.  Many unsolicited e-mails from both parents and campers at the end of Operation Purple attested to the value and effectiveness of the program.

Weekend Retreat for Surviving Family Members of 9/11 Victims

In 2003, though a grant from the NYC and Brooklyn Junior Leagues, we designed and provided a therapeutic weekend program for family members of 9/11 victims.  The elements of the program included:

1. Dance therapy through an interactive dance workshop facilitated by an instructor affiliated with the National Dance Institute.
2. A dance performance by dance workshop participants.
3. A therapeutic drumming workshop taught by a trained percussionist and utilizing djembe drumming in a “drum circle” to express feelings through music.
4. Resiliency, self-esteem, trust and community-building activities on our extensive high and low ropes challenge courses.
5. Art therapy led by an experienced arts & crafts instructor.
6. Experiencing the therapeutic effect of the “wellness of nature” on our three miles of woodland nature trails.
7. Individual counseling and group discussions led by a certified therapist.

 NYC Board of Education Break-Aways Program

For four years, until it was canceled by the City for lack of funding, Camp Deer Run was a participating camp in the NYC Board of Education Break-Aways Program, a camping extension of the school year directed at enhancing literacy skills.  Sessions were four weeks in length.  Three hours of literacy classes were taught each weekday morning by NYS-certified teachers, who were hired by the camp.  Classes were usually held outside in order to help make the literacy component feel more like a normal camping experience.  The curriculum for the program was designed by Camp Deer Run in conjunction with the school districts and the partner schools, consistent with NYC BOE’s New Standards and the camp’s resources, with the aim of ensuring a maximum transfer of learning back to the classroom.  Experiences relating to all camp activities were woven into the daily literacy classes, and, in this sense, the entire camp experience related to the literacy objectives of the program. The camp environment and activities comprised the context for the literacy component.

Retreat Program for the FDR Veterans’ Hospital in Montrose, NY

The program consisted of four one-day retreats for 20 veterans each.  The participants were being treated by the VA for substance abuse and/or mental health issues. The purpose of the retreats was to build trust, self-esteem and the willingness to communicate with others, and to encourage people who were self-absorbed by their own problems to work as a team and to open up to each other and to the VA staff.  Activities included various challenges on our high and low ropes course elements.  While the goals for a group of 20 individuals were, of necessity, somewhat general, during the course of the day we also tried to focus on individual needs and to work on the asset(s) that each participant seemed to need the most, a capability that is facilitated by the natural dynamics of the ropes course activities.  By the end of the day we heard insightful comments about what the veterans had learned, both about themselves and about the others in the group.  Most were able to relate the metaphors that were used for the ropes course activities to their lives and to what they were going through at the time.  We are working with the VA to develop a longer remedial program for homeless veterans served by the FDR Veterans’ Hospital..