Week-long event draws kids to Brandon from around the region

The Muscular Dystrophy Association again transformed Rotary's Camp Florida into a whimsical, colorful camp for youngsters suffering from debilitating neuromuscular diseases.

For one week out of their summer, the kids, ages 6 to 17, were transported to a land of fishing, swimming, cooking and carnival hopping.

"I like the swimming most," said a shy Paige Nixon, 8, of Lakeland. "This morning I went fishing in a boat." Tampa resident Julia Pizzurro, Paige's counselor, helped her create a sand sculpture in a tiny bottle before moving on to the next carnival event.

Eden Gordon and Matthew Hale of Orlando's Holy Family Catholic Church helped the campers make tie-dye shirts and wish balloons, in which each camper placed a wish and then released their balloon after a prayer service.

"Our church has been supporting MDA for 17 years," Gordon said. "This is my first year here and I really am having fun."

Fun is what the week is all about, says camp director Paula Orandash.

"We have 38 campers from Sarasota to the south, up to Hernando to the north and east into Polk County. They represent over 40 neuromuscular diseases."

And each gets assigned a counselor.

Hank Murphy, a graduate of Hillsborough High, was recruited by his former track and field coach, Andrew Wood. He's been coming to camp for four years.

"There is nothing better than MDA camp," Murphy said. "The one-on-one interaction with the kids and the whole week being busy and packed with activity, it's great."

Counselors arrive before campers to get oriented and trained on things like lifting techniques and personal care. At night, their campers sleep on the bottom bunks and they sleep on the top.

For many of the kids, it is their only sleepover experience.

"We try to expose them to as much as we can, a lot of which they don't get at home," Orandash said. The camp offers archery, swimming, arts and crafts, a cooking competition and much more.

This was the third year at MDA camp for Morgan Kelly, 13, of Mulberry. And she loves it. "I like meeting new friends that get what it feels like to have a disability."