Grant aids cleanup effort
for successful camp project

An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 children in every state in the United States are affected by arthritis. The disease, most often associated with older generations, is actually causing a great deal of severe bone and joint pain in children.

Kiwanians in the Louisiana-Mississippi-West Tennessee District’s Division 14 brought children and parents affected by the disease together this summer for the fifth annual KAMP Kiwanis. This year, 60 campers and 24 volunteers gathered at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Perkinston campus, to enjoy a fair, field trips, food, and fun. Highlights included a trip to the Hattiesburg Zoo, the Global Wildlife in Hammond, Louisiana, and a fair with more than 20 activities for the children. A pediatric orthopedist was even available to counsel parents about arthritis.

Kiwanian Greg Stevens serves as camp director. Greg, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Biloxi, says this year’s camp was the best yet, and plans are under way to return to the same location next year.

Without help from the International Foundation, the camp might not have been such a success. Hurricane Katrina wiped out much of the area when it swept through the Gulf Coast in 2005, and Kiwanians almost didn’t have a location to stage the event. Cleanup efforts were widespread and costly, and a portion of the funding came from a Kiwanis International Foundation grant.