Breakfast Lions volunteer time
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — Norine Westerbeck-Gillerman, director of the Seventh-day Arkansas Camps for the Blind, recently visited the Hot Springs Village Breakfast Lions Club to thank the members who volunteered their help this year.
Those volunteers assisted campers from the Camp Yorktown Bay Blind Camp during a week in July. Many worked at the camp itself, or during off-site activities, including bowling, lawn bowling, bumper boats, and go carts.
Westerbeck-Gillerman recruits volunteers from area service organizations to help the blind campers who come from Arkansas and other states for a fun-filled week.
According to a news release, several Lions and other volunteers said how wonderful it was to serve those who have disabilities and yet are so eager to take on a challenge outside their comfort zones. The love shared among the blind as they cheered each other on made an impression on the volunteers and staffers, too.
Staff members, volunteers and organizations that worked alongside Westerbeck-Gillerman that week were innumerable. A week of all-day activities meant a lot of planning and management by the camp and volunteers from service groups. In addition to off-site activity volunteers, there were staffers and directors who take care of the campers at the camp during lake, lakeside, craft, Christian and social activities, in addition to the responsibilities of transportation, housing and kitchen services.
Camp Yorktown Bay is located on Lake Ouachita, and is organized under the Arkansas-Louisiana Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has leased the camp since 1965 from the Navy League — builders of the original camp in 1962. It is a Christian camp for people ages 7 to 70. The Blind Camp is only one of the many weeks that Camp Yorktown Bay hosts. Although the camp is not free, the prices are reasonable because of donations and generous sponsors. The HSV Breakfast Lions gave two $500 scholarships for this year’s camp.
For anyone interested in working with the HSV Breakfast Lions Club and its volunteer activities, visitors are welcome to attend a meeting, held at 7:45 a.m. on the first and third Thursdays of each month at Chef Johnna’s in the DeSoto Club. Coffee and conversation start at 7:30 a.m.
Call President Joanie Corry at 501-762-9566 for more information or to make a breakfast reservation.