BATTLEGROUND – The Hoosier Burn Camp is a once-a-year opportunity, but many see it as much more than that. Hoosier Burn Camp has been around for 10 years, giving children burned by fire a rare opportunity to be a kid again. If the 69 children attending this year can teach anything, it’s that there’s so much more than meets the eye. It starts out with the parade of all parades: a steady stream of motorcycles followed by fire engines manned by the 69 children attending this year’s camp. Deonte Jackson, 10, couldn’t wait to show his grandparents what the camp was all about. “He gains a lot of self respect. Once he leaves the camp he’s OK and he can’t wait to come back,” said Loris Scott, Deonte’s grandmother. “Without this camp this would be a big struggle for him and for us because we don’t have nobody to tell him like these kinds tell him that you are still somebody. I could tell him and show him but this camp does it all,” said Tony Scott. That’s because kids like Anthony Baugh, who was burned by coffee five years ago, are mature beyond their years. “The personality makes somebody, not the looks,” said Anthony. “They are tired of answering how they got burned in their home communities. They are not able to escape the stigma of being a burn survivor; here they crave the experience. It is an apples to apples experience,” said Mark Koopman, Hoosier Burn Camp. Seventeen-year-old Mark O’Banion from South Bend sums the burn camp up this way. “It changed my life,” he said. That is saying a lot considering he lost his brother and sister after the three of them were playing with fire. Camp costs are covered by donations for all of the young attendees. There is only one requirement. You have to have been hospitalized or treated for burn injuries in the state of Indiana. There is also an unwritten requirement – you have to be willing to have fun. “It helps because no one is staring at you and everyone knows what happened and we just have fun,” said Deonte. It’s one week out of the year where kids get to be kids again and when they get a chance to prove the old adage that children who are loved will show love. According to its website, Hoosier Burn Camp is a nonprofit organization committed to providing life-changing experiences for young people who have suffered the physical and mental trauma associated with a severe burn injury. The largest annual event is summer camp, but they also host monthly events throughout the year. Hoosier Burn Camp provides a place for burn survivors to feel safe and supported in an environment where no one is made to feel different because of their physical injuries. For more information search www.hoosierburncamp.org or call 800-254-2878.
