When we launched our year-round sibling connection initiative with CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS, in 2005, we quickly felt the power of Lynn Price's vision for sisters and brothers who have been separated when removed from their homes and placed in foster care. Right after our first camp season we piloted a monthly program called Sibling Sundays in order to give campers opportunities to come together with our fabulous volunteer counselors on a regular basis. Our vision: to create enduring relationships for siblings who experience foster care through innovative programs and practices. This year we have established a new non-profit to support that vision. It is called Sibling Connections.

As we prepare for our sixth season of CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS, we find ourselves reflecting on the fabulous four seasons that have preceded it. Our fourth season of camp held last August at Camp Taconic in the Berkshires, was a blast. The siblings spent any amazing week celebrating the sibling bond while swimming, riding banana boats, scaling a 40 foot climbing wall, horseback riding, making ice cream and going on scavenger hunts.

What we have learned from our CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS experiences is that while the daily activities at camp are truly important, it is the time spent together that supplies the magic - a sustained amount of time spent together while doing fun things that allows our campers to simply be kids and create a host of joyous shared memories. As one counselor recently shared, “more than the activities, the campers wanted to spend time together as siblings. It was such a gift for them to be able to eat dinner together, to sit under the night sky and watch for falling stars, and to forget, for a minute, the heart wrenching experiences that separated them from each other. I particularly remember the boys in my cabin asking me if I would set the alarm for 6:00 am - two hours EARLY - so that they wouldn't sleep through any of their time together.” Need we say more?!

Every year after camp we hold a reunion. This fall kids and counselors gathered at Look Park in Western MA for our CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS Reunion. Campers from all across the state came by bus and car to spend the day in family groups, creating additional shared memories while surrounded by their CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS family and friends.

We now have two monthly Sibling Sunday programs to support campers - one in eastern MA and one in western Massachusetts. One Sunday a month siblings come together with volunteer counselors to spend the day. We share meals and create an array of positive shared memories while sledding, ice skating, decorating cookies, making gingerbread houses, building sand castles, playing basketball, horseback riding and whatever the season may bring.

We are now gearing up for our sixth CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS. We will be back at Camp Taconic in Hinsdale, MA and are fortunate to have a number of fabulous committed veteran counselors. We would love to have you join our amazing CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS counselor team. Please contact Kelly Lane at Kelleyl.lane@gmail.com if you are interested in learning more about CAMP TO BELONG MASSACHUSETTS. You can learn more about Sibling Connections by visiting us on-line at www.siblingconnections.com.