“Registration is now open for 2024 Camp Corral,” announced Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary (DAVA) Unit #63 (Clermont County) Commander Shirley Plahovinsak. “We will be working to spread the word that families can now enroll their children for this great Summer Camp.”
“Our DAVA Unit is now looking forward and planning to actively support 2025 Camp Corral in our new campaign like we did last year when we raised enough donations to send eighteen (18) children to Camp in 2024,” said Commander Plahovinsak.
Camp Corral, is sponsored by the Golden Corral Restaurant Chain, and offers recreational programs designed to empower America’s military children. These programs enable military children to make connections, build coping skills and increase self-confidence.
The free Summer Camp Program is offered to children aged eight (8) thru fifteen (15) years old of wounded, ill, disabled and fallen military service members and veterans.
There is no minimum disability rating for disabled veterans, but injuries do need to be service-connected nor does the rating determine application acceptance for the children.
There will be two (2) Camp Corrals closest to the southwestern Ohio area. Camp Carson, in Princeton, Indiana, will be held starting June 30, 2024 to July 5, 2024. Camp Ernst, located in Burlington, Kentucky, will be held from August 4, 2024 to August 10, 2024.
Many of the children attending Camp Corral perform caregiving duties within their family unit. The Camp helps build life skills to empower strong, resilient and independent individuals for the future.
Activities at Camp Corral include swimming, rope courses, rock wall climbing, horseback riding, sleeping under the stars, and all the traditional camp fun of songs, campfires, arts and crafts.
“Camp Corral was first started in 2011,” commented the DAVA Unit Commander, “and over 30,000 military and veterans’ children have attended the one-week summer program.”
The Clermont County DAVA Unit anticipates actively partnering with the National DAV’s “Just b’ Kids” Scholarship Program, as it has done last year. The National DAV has been long-time partners in supporting all the efforts at Camp Corral.
The Scholarship Program will cover all camp-related costs and provide support for families needing transportation assistance to and from Camp Corral.
Last year the DAVA Unit #63 raised $5,679.11, while accepting donations from patrons of the Golden Corral Restaurant at Eastgate Plaza.
The National DAV, through the Just b’ Kids Scholarship Program, doubled that amount to $11,358.22 and now eighteen (18) children will be attending 2024 Camp Corral because of the efforts of the DAVA Clermont County Unit.
“We certainly wished to thank the F and AM Lodge #142, in downtown Cincinnati, and the Robert E. Burkart AM Vets, in Fairfield, for their checks in support of our fund-raising,” said DAVA Unit #63 Adjutant Joyce Hutchinson.
“They saw the article in the Clermont Sun newspaper concerning our efforts donations,” noted Adjutant Hutchinson, “and they mailed in checks that enabled our Unit to reach our final total of $5,679.11.
The effort to support the “Just b’ Kids” Scholarship Program will be made by DAV and DAVA Auxiliary members at the Golden Corral Restaurant, in the near future. “We plan to develop our goals and objectives for the campaign at our next DAVA Unit meeting,” said the DAVA Unit Commander.
Families that desire to register to send their children to Camp Corral should contact www.campcorral.org to ensure a place at one of the twenty (20) Camp Corrals being planned throughout the United States.
“It is very gratifying that DAVA Unit #63 will be playing a small role in making an exciting experience for children of wounded, disabled or fallen veterans,” concluded DAVA Adjutant Hutchinson. “These children deserve this rewarding opportunity!”