For many families, summer camps are not in the budget – Camp Edge overcomes this by offering a free, three-day summer camp for kids across Red Deer.
The camp runs from July 23rd, 24th and 25th from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Family Of Faith Church.
Family Of Faith Church has put together an array of events for children that are Kindergarten ages all the way up to Grade 6. The different groups of camp include art, dance, soccer, basketball and a ‘junior kidz’ camp for ages four to six.
“Basically, what happens is after they’ve been signed in, they come into our church sanctuary and we do a bunch of Minute To Win It style games. We show video clips and other things to match the theme that changes every day, and that goes on for about an hour. From there, they split into whatever camp they signed up for,” said Jaime Huizing, a children’s pastor at Family Of Faith.
The camp is organized and run by volunteers to eliminate sign up fees and make the program accessible for children who may not have the opportunity otherwise.
“Childcare is expensive, let alone the costs of sending kids to camp, so we decided to do ours for free. We have people that have gone to RDC with soccer and basketball scholarships and they come in and teach those skills,” said Huizing.
“Over 50 per cent of the kids who come are only able to do so because it’s free. And we have a lot of fun – it’s not a low calibre camp just because it’s free. We make sure we have a lot of fun, high-quality activities. Kids are super pumped and I think I feed off of that energy and it makes it fun.”
Volunteers from the church are also offering rides to children who live in the areas of Riverside Meadows, Fairview, Highland Green and Normandeau. Huizing said the camp is available to anyone who registers. Registration can only be done online at www.familyoffaith.ca on the homepage, and must be completed in order for a child to participate.
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