”This has helped me. I still can't talk about 9-11,” retired New York City
firefighter Richie Corcoran said while holding back tears, his chin quivering.
TheDay 7/20/09
Growing up, Vic Spinnato was accustomed to seeing burn scars.
His grandmother was burned on her hand and arm in a New London house fire that took the lives of his great-grandmother and other relatives before he was born.
But even with that familiarity and his decades-long career as a New London firefighter, Lt. Spinnato still wasn't sure what he was going to experience when he started volunteering at the Arthur C. Luf Children's Burn Camp in Union 10 years ago.
”The first year I didn't know what to expect,” Spinnato said, “but after an hour or two I realized they were kids.”
Each year, scores of children between 8 and 18 years old come from all over the country and world to attend the burn camp in the tiny town of Union in Tolland County.
The counselors and staff refer to the children as burn survivors and the burns cover anywhere from 10 percent to 90 percent of their bodies.
Some of the scars are instantly visible, others are barely noticeable and hidden under clothing, but what's immediately clear after only a short visit is how much each child enjoys his or her week at camp.
”It's fun. You meet other people and see old friends,” said Jon Morales, an 18-year-old from Bridgeport who has come to the camp for five years. “I learn teamwork. It makes me a better person in a way.”
This year, 73 children attended the weeklong overnight camp, some from as far away as Florida, the Virgin Islands and Russia. It was the largest number of children to attend the burn camp so far.
”The sad part is every year it goes up more and more,” said Spinnato, who recalled that about 30 children attended the camp when he first started as a volunteer.
Spinnato is one of the 82 other counselors and staff members who worked with the children during this past week and seemed to have a never-ending supply of candy for the campers.
Most of the counselors are firefighters from up and down the East Coast with many coming from New England, New York and Washington. Nurses, physical therapists and even dietitians make up the rest of the counselors and staff, who are unpaid, said Steve Lupinacci, a Stratford firefighter who serves as the camp director.
When Spinnato first started, the camp was located in western Connecticut. About 10 years ago, it moved to its current location in Union. The 180-acre camp is owned by the Boy Scouts of America, and the camp leases it, Lupinacci said. None of the children are charged to attend the camp, and the cost to run the weeklong camp is paid by the Connecticut Burns Care Foundation.
The campground is a maze of dirt roads and trails winding throughout the dense woods and leading to about a half-dozen camp sites and recreation areas.
Bunk bed-filled “lean-tos” that have been updated with extra walls and screen doors serve as the home for many of the campers and some of the counselors. On site is a staffed medical building, as well as a counselor's quarters and updated showers and bathrooms. Many of the upgrades have been made by firefighters who volunteer at the camp. Firefighters or other organizations that can't make it to help out during the week offer donations from grills to canoes and even wooden benches that were made by members of the New London Fire Department and are used in the camp's mess hall.
During a tour of the camp last week, the sounds of shouting and laughing children could be heard echoing through the woods. When Spinnato arrived at the camp sites, the children would walk up to him and greet him with a hug or a “hello” knowing that a piece of gum or candy would find its way into their palms. Others greeted him with a sarcastic joke, but he didn't hold back on the candy.
The campers participate in many confidence and team-building activities like a ropes course and rock climbing or other just fun activities like tag and catch.
One of the most exciting parts of the day is when the groups of campers get to spend time at the beach along the camp's pond. There they can play volleyball, canoe, kayak and learn to swim.
At the beach, most of the campers have no hesitation about donning their bathing suits and heading toward the water. If they were somewhere else, that may not be the case, counselors said.
”This is the only outlet where they can take their shirt off without people looking,” Spinnato said. “The main thing they get is they can see there's other kids like them.”
Lupinacci said that pertains to the camp's mission.
”Here a child is severely burned and no one is judgmental,” he said. “We want to provide the child with an opportunity to be judged not by what their skin looks like, but by the person they are. We try to instill that confidence and self esteem they lose after being burned.”
In some cases, however, the roles are reversed and the children end up helping the counselors.
”This has helped me. I still can't talk about 9-11,” retired New York City firefighter Richie Corcoran said while holding back tears, his chin quivering. “They help me to get over that. It's the feeling you get from the kids. Some of these kids would never have a week at the beach and they're here.”
Corcoran, a 70-year-old Selden, N.Y., resident, has volunteered at the camp for about 10 years and is called “Grandpa” by most of the campers.
”It's just a beautiful thing,” he said while standing on the beach, watching the campers play in the water.
About 80 percent of the campers come back after their first year, counselors said. Many of the campers, including Chris Tingley, 17, of Natick, Mass., said what keeps them coming back is the volunteer counselors.
Tingley, who's attended the camp for about 10 years, said he plans on becoming a firefighter after he attends the University of Maryland Baltimore County starting this fall.
”I wouldn't be who I am today
without this place.”
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