Most of us do not know how to be around grieving people. I was deeply grieved after losing my mother to cancer until I was invited for a camping weekend at Camp Erin, where I am currently a volunteer. You or someone you know might be the next person in need of such an environment. Today I would like to talk to you about first, the need for a volunteer at Camp Erin, second, how to volunteer, and finally, the benefit of the volunteer program.
Human Services Organizations (HSO) worldwide and here in Miami rely heavily on volunteers, and they need your help. Richardson, et al. write that most HSO’s are 501(c)(3) organizations, thus limiting their extent of lobbying, leaving them with volunteers’ option (Richardson et al. 176). In addition, according to the Camp Erin website, running the camp requires caring volunteers because they run the facility at no cost.
This is how you go about volunteering at Camp Erin. First, you have to see grief as your core enemy stealing your joy and your loved ones through grief. As Sandler Irwin writes in the 2018 issue of NAGC annual Symposium Course Catalog, the best volunteers are those who are personally affected by losing someone they love. If you care enough, contact Gian Santayana at (954) 9944-2709. Then, you can see it is pretty easy to volunteer at Camp Erin.
Volunteers’ programs at the camp benefit both the volunteer and the camp community. If you choose to become a volunteer, you join a team that helps you acquire skills to fight grief as a family. In addition, Dahdah and Joaquim write in the 2018 issue of the South African Journal of Occupational Therapy that bereavement camps provide an identity for grieving persons through interpersonal relationships and a sense of belonging.
As you can see, volunteering at Camp Erin could be one of the most important you ever make and the most critical way of missing loved ones. You become a volunteer by simply connecting to moments of grief in your life and taking action, which is applied at the camp’s official website. By doing so, the next time you or someone close to you is grieved, you get to punch your way quickly through the process.
Works Cited
Dahdah, Daniel Ferreira, and Regina Helena Vitale Torkomian Joaquim. “Occupational Therapy in the bereavement process: A meta-synthesis.” South African Journal of Occupational Therapy 48.3 (2018): 12-18. Web.
Catholic Hospice. Camp Erin Helps Children Learn To Grieve. 2021. Web.
Richardson, Rhonda A., Pamela A. Ferguson, and Susan Maxymiv. “Applying a positive youth development perspective to observation of bereavement camps for children and adolescents.” Journal of social work in end-of-life & palliative care 13.2-3 (2017): 173-192. Web.
Sandler, Irwin N. “A8: Resilient Parenting for Bereaved Families: Adapting a research-based program for delivery by community agencies.” 2018 NAGC Annual Symposium Course Catalog. Vol. 28. Web.