NORTH WEBSTER - The good news is the property is still called Camp Good News.

Better news is that the beautiful wooded facility is open and better than ever.

And the best news is that underprivileged kids have a place to camp.

Located off Backwater Road on the shores of Backwater Lake and bordered by wetlands to the east, the 42-acre Camp Good News is open to disadvantaged campers six weeks in the summer.

Cleaned up and under construction, the camp has new owners, the coincidentally named Good News Ministries based in Indianapolis.

Camp director Herb Gaines said 212 kids attended this summer, absolutely free of charge.

The kids participate in activities provided in the lake, the pool, the facilities and off-site tours. Neither snack shop nor the craft shop cost anything.

"Our mission is to reach under-served youth with the gospel of Christ," said Gaines, an Independent Baptist minister, "and help them with their spiritual, mental, social and physical development through summer camping experiences that their families otherwise could not afford."

Many activities are geared toward character-building, teaching the kids "to stand alone."

"We give them practical, everyday tools for living," Gaines said. "Some have never been in church before. They've led a promiscuous lifestyle, and curse words are part of their regular vocabulary.

"Their relationships with people are horrendous. Some of them come right off the streets.

"We ask that they honor, respect and obey their parents and build the right kind of relationships with friends."

The ratio of counselors to campers is 5 to 1.

Program director Dean Hunsucker said counselors are put through a rigorous training course - when to hold a kid back, when to break up a fight.

"We don't have fist fights every day, but we have spats," he said.

The camp is available for rent to church groups, which helps with revenue.

Cost per child is about $200 for a week of camp. A full camp costs $50,000. This year about $30,000 was raised.

The donations of funds and services pour into the camp. The Indiana Bass Federation provided 20 rods, reels and tackle, qualified instructors spent time with the campers on a shooting range and churches provide cash for daily operations.

A visit to a dairy farm during a leadership training week gave some of the campers their first introduction to a cow. Then they all pitched in to store 300 bales of hay in the hay mow.

To qualify for the camp, the kids either must reside in a city or be on the free lunch program. They must be referred by a camper referral agency. Some came from South Chicago, Indianapolis, South Bend and Elkhart. Others live in Warsaw, Akron, Milford, Cromwell and Leesburg.

"A lot of our kids do not receive love or attention at home," Gaines said. "You put your arm around their shoulder and you've made a friend for life."

Hunsucker talked about one boy who attended leadership camp this year. He was worried about what would happen to his younger autistic brother when he graduated from high school.

"He said, 'When it's supper time, a hamburger is made for him and her (the parents). We don't exist,'" Hunsucker said, still shocked by the story. "Something like that just boggles the mind. He wants to be a minister but worries how he can do that and still care for his brother."

After a week, some of the children ask to be adopted or taken in, Hunsucker said.

"The counselors may be the only male influence these kids have ever had," he said.

"When they first arrive, 25 percent of the boys want to grow up to be pimps. Why? The money. It's all about the money. When they leave, most of them have other goals in life."

The camp is open from early June to mid-August. Boys and girls attend at the same time with cabins in separate areas. Junior camp is for 8- to 12-year-olds and teen camp is for 13- to 18-year-olds. Leadership camp is for the teens.

The camp's 25 buildings are of cinder block construction. Gaines would like to winterize the camp for use throughout the year.

The 10 cabins sleep 12 campers each. One of Gaines' goals is to provide better bunks. Now they consist of canvas stretched between metal frames. The top bunks are secured to the wall with chain on two sides.

During the first week of ownership, August 2001, more than 20 tons of scrap metal were removed from the grounds. Scrub brush 30 feet deep was removed along the shoreline around the pool area.

A new athletic field is under construction near the front gates and landscaping is being installed to shore up a hillside along an inlet.

Gaines, who always wanted to be a camp director, has a list of additions and improvements he wants to make on the grounds, but most of all he wants to make a difference in the lives of the kids who visit Camp Good News.

"Some of them come with generations of anger and bitterness," he said. "Anything is OK unless they get caught. We hope they think about the things they've learned while they're gone and we hope they come back."

In addition to Camp Good News, Good News Ministries operates a 77-bed rescue mission, a homeless family shelter, free health clinic and daily urban youth center in Indianapolis.

For more information, Gaines can be reached at 834-1200 or via e-mail at [email protected] The address for Good News Ministries is 2716 E. Washington St., P.O. Box 1871, Indianapolis IN 46206-1871, 317-638-2862. [[In-content Ad]]