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Camp Francis
An Amazing Experience
“Thank you for giving us our daughter back.”
This is how one parent summed up the value of Camp Francis. Camp Francis is a place that not only exists for one week in June, but is also a place in the heart.
Camp Francis is a unique camp experience for children ages 6 to 12 who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Held the third week in June each year, this five-day camp is located at Camp Rotary in the mountains near Monarch, MT. Each day is filled with games, activities, and grief work. Many people describe the camp as “magical!” One camper, who has now returned to camp as a teen volunteer said, “Camp is where you unload the sad and fill up on the happy!”
Each camper comes looking for companionship in their grief journey; a safe, supportive environment to learn about grief; and most importantly opportunities to have fun! They find this and so much more. Adult and teen volunteers, some of whom have been former campers and who have had significant losses of their own, stay at camp the entire five days.
Activities include craft projects that have a grief-related lesson attached. Each day is designed around a theme that focuses on healing. All activities give campers the opportunity to share memories and bits of their stories if they choose to do so.
Parents arrive at the end of camp to help celebrate the grief work done by the campers and they are reunited as their children “parade back into life” carrying banners and making joyful noises. Before campers leave, they are each given a personalized memory book created throughout the week by dedicated volunteers who photograph the week’s activities and create a lasting memory of camp.
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