Camp Dogwood offers comfort and recovery for grieving kids

On Saturday, West Georgia Hospice will host its annual Camp Dogwood.

Camp Dogwood is a one-day event for children who have experienced the loss of a loved one.

Originally an overnight weekend camp, Camp Dogwood has transitioned to a single-day camp. The camp celebrated its 30th running last year. The camp began in 1997 as an outreach of West Georgia Hospice and now serves upwards of 60 children each summer.

Sandy Melton, Volunteer Coordinator for West Georgia Hospice said the purpose for Camp Dogwood is to help children who are grieving the loss of a loved one, whether that be a parent, grandparent, friend or other loved one.

The camp is free of charge with the help of about 80 volunteers.

The camp is held at Camp Pioneer’s Pineland campus on Young’s Mill Road near LaGrange. During the camp, kids are helped to deal with loss through art, games, stories and other activities.

The camp has certified counselors who help kids through different exercises to learn to understand the emotions of losing someone you love.

One is called Ocean of Emotion, where kids make an ocean using a water bottle and food coloring and just talk about the different emotions that we go through. It helps kids to understand what they feel, Melton said.

“We teach them it is okay to hold on to happiness and also be sad. Both can live in the same body, and it’s okay to be happy and it’s okay to be sad and it’s okay to be angry,” Melton said.

Melton said the camp is only one day but it’s a packed, productive day with lots of activities.

“The biggest thing is to help them celebrate their loved ones,” she said. “They make a memory pillow. That’s an awesome keepsake for them, and something that brings a lot of healing.”

Melton said Camp Dogwood will stay a day camp for the foreseeable future. There are no plans to return to being an overnight camp.

“We’ve got a lot of families that really like it to be a one-day camp,” Melton said. “They prefer for their children to come home at night.”

Melton said that technically, the deadline to register for this year’s camp has passed but they never really want to turn a child away.

“If somebody wanted to get their child in, we would sure do everything we could to get them okay. We don’t like to tell anybody no. We want to help as many children as we possibly can,” Melton said.

Melton said she believes Camp Dogwood is making a difference for kids.

“Talking with the families and hearing what their children have gone through, losing dad, a mom, a grandparent, sibling, and then being able to talk to those parents and guardians again after camp to see what a difference was made is so encouraging. I think it’s valuable what we’re doing. I wish more people knew about it,” Melton said.

For more information on Camp Dogwood or to register, visit https://www.wellstar.org/community/camp-dogwood.