News Room

Camp Hope

Published by The Advertiser-Gleam

Kids collect tools  to deal with grief

“One thing we tell these kids is, ‘When words are inadequate, put your hands to work and make use of rituals.’ That’s what they’re doing today,” said Stacey Johnson, social work/bereavement coordinator for Hospice of Marshall County (HMC).

Guntersville artist Kelly Jackson created a banner for Camp Hope, the day camp for grieving children that is sponsored each year by HMC and held at Chalakee Ranch in near Warrenton. Social workers and volunteers lead the children through games and exercises that help them learn how to deal with their grief.

The children were encouraged to write messages and sign their names on the bright banner, filling in the spaces between the drawings of a horse and children. Messages of “I miss you” and “I love you” to mothers, fathers, grandparents and cousins were scrawled with markers.

At the end of the day, the banner was placed on a horse’s back, and the horse released into a field.

Another exercise involved the kids choosing tools to help them deal with grief. Children searched the barn floor for pieces of paper on which were written “friends,” “church” and other support systems that can help them when they’re feeling sad. They taped the items to a paper blanket on a horse’s back and then led the horse around orange cones representing obstacles that can get in the way of dealing with grief. The horse was eventually led to a “safe place” in the barn.

The kids also had a chance to paint a piece of artwork in memory of their loved one.

The  children who were at Camp Hope Tuesday were from kindergarten through 8th grades at Cherokee Elementary, Asbury,  DAR Elementary and Middle, Douglas Elementary and Middle, Grassy, Union Grove and Sloman Primary in Douglas.

Chalakee Ranch owner Anita Duncan donates the use of her ranch in memory of her son Cody, who died in a wreck about 7 years ago.