Special Friends include those who have donated to or sponsored events. They also have donated their time or helped us in some other special way. The following is the testimonial of one of our Special Friends.

Imagine me…a 30-something executive in the cable television industry…meeting Lynn Price for the first time at a leadership program we were selected to attend. At that time in my life (and in my career), I looked at most people in situations like that from the “what can they do for me?” perspective. Basically, could she help me move forward? Boy, would she…but not in any way I could have ever imagined.

At one of our first meetings, Lynn shared with us (a group of 25 senior level women) the history of Camp To Belong and her commitment to sibling reunification. I was enthralled by her passion and the fact that she was truly making a difference. Soon after, I sent in a donation check, thinking that was what folks like me did. But it felt empty…like it wasn’t enough. So I volunteered to be a counselor and headed to Colorado. For a week, I shed my business suits, e-mail and cell phone to jump into the open arms of Camp To Belong.

To say this week at camp changed my life is an understatement. Both the kids and counselors inspired me. Many of the counselors are social workers deeply committed to Camp To Belong’s vision. I left camp that week filled with love, a sense of accomplishment and, more importantly, the feeling that I had made a difference in a few young lives. I spent the plane ride home trying to decide how to hold onto that feeling forever.

It took some time, but one year later, I quit my job of ten years (a job I truly liked), entered the University of Pennsylvania in pursuit of a master’s degree in psychological services and became a volunteer CASA (court appointed special advocate). Now, one year after starting graduate school, I hold that very master’s degree and also a full-time position as a therapist for troubled teenage girls.

Some folks have called me courageous for making such a dramatic career change. I think of it a bit more spiritually. I met Lynn Price and stumbled upon Camp To Belong for a reason. Other things had shadowed the path I was meant to travel. Lynn and the wonderful kids at Camp To Belong helped me uncover the path that had been intended for me all along.

And, yes, I find that I now often recapture that wonderful feeling first uncovered at Camp To Belong in my daily work.

--- submitted by Jen Reed, volunteer counselor, Camp To Belong Colorado 2001 ---