Who better to invite as a guest blogger than, Suzanne Schindler? Suzanne, along with other parents and guardians serve on the JFS KidsConnect Advisory Board. They helped to vision and create the program, from its inception, nine years ago. At that time, it was called, “Yeladeinu”, which is Hebrew for “Our Children”. Please join me in reading Suzanne’s precious words about how KidsConnect impacts Andrew and his family:

“When I think about my childhood summers, memories of fun filled days at camp come rushing to me. Playing kickball, Newcomb, swimming, arts and crafts, laughing with friends, enjoying the outdoors nature walks. Having a good time and enjoying the break from school and enjoy being just a kid. No responsibilities other than having fun!   When JFS first started KidsConnect Camp, these were the things I wanted my son and all of the kids in attendance to experience. I wanted my son to enjoy all of the things that I did during my summers at camp. I wanted him to look at pictures and have happy memories of a wonderful time at camp.

My son, Andrew is now 16 and on the autism spectrum. Since he attends a six- week summer school session each year, the only school break he gets is at the end of summer before the new school year starts. He never had a chance to experience summer camp until KidsConnect. Each day at camp is better than the previous day! The smiles and excitement I see in his face is mirrored on the faces of all of the kids attending. The kids come back year after year seeing the friends that they made over the previous summers. The kids have the chance to participate in activities they may never had the chance to do such as Tao Kwan Do or horseback riding. Each child in attendance is teamed up with a teen mentor. The bonding and the experiences for all involved is priceless! An annual family BBQ and campfire is a huge hit as well! S’mores and singing and having a great time!

Andrew is now as fortunate as I was….with KidsConnect; he gets to enjoy his short summer break like any other teen. He experiences all of the fun things of summer that I did. And he probably gets that feeling in the stomach like I did on the last day, knowing that summer is coming to an end.”

The top photo is of Andrew Schindler.