Kids Camp changes young people's lives

Will Tedrow's experience at the Kids Camp sponsored by Flathead CARE made a profound change in his life.

"Kids Camp basically taught me how to be OK with being me," said Tedrow, who attended the camp as a seventh-grader and was involved with Flathead CARE as a volunteer throughout his high school years and served as a camp counselor, mentoring younger children.

"Kids camp is such an eye-opening experience - whether as a camper or a counselor," Tedrow said. "I realized what a rewarding experience it is to connect and make a difference in a kid's life."

Kids Camp, a four-day leadership camp for students going into seventh and eighth grades, is just one of the programs for young people operated by Flathead CARE, a United Way member agency dedicated to helping kids say no to drugs and alcohol and make positive decisions in life.

Flathead CARE, a nonprofit organization committed to reducing the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs by youth in Flathead County, is just one of the many agencies and services that benefit from the local United Way campaign, which continues through Dec. 31.

The theme of the campaign is "Touch a Life" and the monetary goal is $850,000. Last year, United Way member agencies helped nearly 57,000 people in need. Ninety-nine percent of all money raised stay in local communities.

Tedrow is one whose life has definitely been touched by the generosity of the community in giving to United Way Member Agencies.

Tedrow used the skills he learned at Kids Camp to resist peer pressure and made good friends with others who became involved with Flathead CARE. Last summer, after graduating from Glacier High School, he interned at Flathead CARE, volunteering more than 700 hours and once again serving as a counselor at Kids Camp.

"Tedrow is an outstanding young man," said Kari Gabriel, executive director of Flathead CARE. " He was the recipient of the first annual Flathead CARE scholarship at GHS last year, and has easily put in thousands of hours over the years. He works tirelessly, and is such a great example to young kids, as well as his peers. He was involved in everything at school - STAND, band, speech, drama, and anything else that he could find. I am proud to know him and consider myself better for having had him be a part of my life. I would hire Tedrow in a minute."

This fall, Tedrow left for college at the University of Idaho to study technical theater to become a professional set and lighting designer. He's armed with the confidence he first gained as an awkward pre-teen at Kids Camp. He had spent his entire seventh-grade year alone after changing schools, he said.

"Seventh grade was one of the hardest years of school in my life," he said. "I never had the confidence to ask other kids if they wanted to hang out or if they wanted to be friends. I spent that entire year alone."

His mother signed him up for Kids Camp, and his life began to change.

"I remember sitting in my cabin absolutely convinced that something awful was going to happen to me when a high school counselor sat down next to me and just started talking to me," he recalls. "Kids Camp gave me my confidence. For the first time in my life I fit in with the popular kids. Other kids wanted to spend time with me."

He incorporated that confidence into his school years, and became dedicated to helping other kids find their own way.

"Basically, I did a lot of work in the community and it all went back to helping kids," he said.

"I've never met one kid who didn't enjoy Kids Camp and I've never met a counselor that it didn't change their life," he said.

His experiences at Flathead CARE have shaped his life and given him confidence to face the changes that college will bring as he strikes out on his own for the first time.

"I've gotten confidence to be me, and I've also realized the impact you can have on someone's life," he said. "It's also made me more of an adult. I don't know if actual adults would think that - but I do."

In addition to Flathead CARE, current United Way member agencies are Big Brothers and Sisters, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs of Glacier Country, Eagle Transit, First Call for Help-Net, Flathead Food Bank, Flathead Youth Home, Girl Scouts, Head Start, Literacy Volunteers, Mental Health Crisis Line, Nurturing Center, Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, Samaritan House, Sinopah House, Special Friends Advocacy Program, Summit Independent Living Center and the Violence Free Crisis Line/Abbie Shelter.

Services of the United Way include CASA for Kids, Disaster Care Services, Leaders of Tomorrow and the United Way Volunteer Center.

The United Way also supports the following emergency food and shelter programs in Northwest Montana: Bread Basket, Community Harvest Food Bank, DOVES, Helping Hands, Hot Springs Food Pantry, Lake County Mental Health Center, Libby Food Pantry, Mission Valley Food Pantry, Neighbors in Need, Northwest Montana Veterans Food Pantry, Salvation Army Feeding Program, Thompson Falls Food Pantry and Troy Food Pantry.

Donors to United Way may choose how to donate, including cash, payroll deductions, charging to a credit card, direct billing or through automatic bank transfers. Donors also may designate which member agencies or non-affiliated partner agencies or the Montana Shares Federation they want to receive their gift.

For more information on the United Way campaign, call 752-7266. Donations may be mailed to P.O. Box 7217, Kalispell, MT 59904.