The Ladies of the Elks are sending 57 children to the Florida Elks Youth Camp in July with all expenses paid, which is an increase in the amount of children who attended last year.
Ginger Capehart, president of the Ladies of the Elks, said the Florida Elks Youth Camp is one of its main charities each year. She said the camp is for 9 to 13-year-old children who are under-privileged, have a physical disability, a child or grandchild of an Elks member or children of inactive or active military.
“We are excited about this one,” Capehart said about this year’s camp because it is the most children they have sent.
Last year the club sent between 26-30 children to camp, which is located in Marion County outside of Orlando.
Florida Elks Youth Camp opened in 1991 on 385 acres to provide children with an abundance of outdoor physical activities. The camp, which costs $180 per child, is completely paid for by the Ladies of the Elks.
Capehart said it is a week full of fun provided by the Ladies of the Elks.
On July 10, all of the children will be picked up at the Elks Lodge with a bus that the men’s Elks Lodge donated. The children will load the bus about 10:30 a.m. and arrive at the camp about four hours later for their week full of fun.
“All the children that are going this time all live in the Cape and attend elementary schools in the Cape,” Capehart said.
She said the children will stay in beautiful cabins that hold nine children each. They will have the opportunity to climb on the rock climbing wall, ride the zip line, swim in the pool and play basketball on the courts.
Information about the camp, along with an application, was dropped off at all the elementary schools in Cape Coral for the children who were interested in attending the camp. Capehart said she believes getting the information out to the schools helped in attracting more kids for the camp.
Today the kids will gather at the Elks Lodge for a few hours to watch a video of what the camps look like. Capehart said it will also give them the opportunity to get to know the kids, their parents and grandparents.