Rotary hears Flying Horse Farm update

Rachel Mendell — Staff

Dona­tion man­ager Don Wig­gins announces to Galion Rotar­i­ans that Fly­ing Horse Farms is offi­cially accred­ited as a Hole in the Wall Camp.

Inquirer Edi­tor

Don Wig­gins, man­ager of Fly­ing Horse Farms, pre­sented an overview of the his­tory and work done so far at the camp for crit­i­cally ill chil­dren based in Mount Gilead.

As of last week Fly­ing Horse Farms is offi­cially a mem­ber of Hole in the Wall Camps which was founded by Paul Neu­man. FHF can deal with emer­gency sit­u­a­tions of seri­ously ill chil­dren because of its full med­ical facil­ity and trauma room. The founders of FHF had once spon­sored a one-day camp, which included horse-back rid­ing, but wanted to do more. They donated 200 acres to FHF and the project began 5 years ago.

Hos­pi­tals from Ohio and Penn­syl­va­nia will send chil­dren to the camp for free.

The camp, which opened last Novem­ber, offers week­end fam­ily camps, week-long illness-specific camps and numer­ous vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties. Wig­gins said the fam­ily camps offer a chance for fam­i­lies to be with other fam­i­lies that are deal­ing with the same strug­gles of car­ing for a seri­ously ill child.

The children’s week-long camps are free to chil­dren ages 8 to 15 and are illness-specific to allow for the staffing of doc­tors and nurses in that spe­cific field. For exam­ple, Wig­gins went on, in the heart dis­ease camp, every lit­tle boy in the pool has a scar on his chest and no one is “different.”

Activ­i­ties for the chil­dren include hik­ing, walk­ing, crafts, “fish/catch/kiss and release,” singing, bon fires, and other camp­ing activities.

This year the camp served over 500 chil­dren and next year the goal is 1,400. There are vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties includ­ing mak­ing beds, work­ing a work day and gen­eral clean up. The camp needs light bulbs, tents, sleep­ing bags, fur­nace fil­ters, and, of course, money. It costs $2,500 per child per week.

Rotary also heard about the group’s stu­dent exchange pro­gram from mem­bers of the Sun­shine Rotary Club. Two stu­dents said a few words about going to a for­eign coun­try, one from Ober­lin Ohio and one from Brazil. Rotary Inter­na­tional sends stu­dents to 80 coun­tries with 8,000 long-term and short-term exchange pro­grams every year.

The club announced Trick or Treat Walk Your Feet will be Thurs­day, Oct. 27 from 4 – 5 p.m. in the Uptowne area. Rotar­i­ans will be on hand to direct traf­fic and over­see safety. Vol­un­teers for the event request no pets, no smok­ing and no vio­lent cos­tumes because of the small chil­dren that will be attending.

Rotary meets every Wednes­day at 5:30 p.m. at the Var­sity Grill. Vis­i­tors are welcome.

Rachel Mendell — Staff

Don Wig­gins answers ques­tions about Fly­ing Horse Farms in Mount Gilead.

Posted by Rachel Mendell on Oct 14 2011. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.