A Bronxville resident who runs camps for needy children is heading to Staten Island this weekend to put on a program for youngsters who lost their homes during Hurricane Sandy.
“These kids have all been displaced without their personal belongings. We just want to provide fun,” said Caroline Baumis, director of Camp TLC (Together Living a Challenge).
About 30 children, ranging in age from 5 to 14, will come to the camp at Mount Manresa, a Jesuit Retreat Center on Staten Island where they are living with their families.
“We’re going to give the kids fun, but also give the parents respite to do the things they need to do. They can go back to their homes with the inspectors and have the conversations they can’t have around the kids,” Baumis said.
Camp TLC was founded in 2000 as a camp for children who were barred from other summer camps because of the fear of AIDS. Today, the camp provides programs to hospitals, group homes, shelters and disaster areas.
Baumis said she choose to help the residents of Staten Island because that’s where the founder of the camp, Joey DiPaolo, grew up and lives. DiPaolo contracted HIV as a child from a blood transfusion.
She’s been in contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to set up the camp and identify children who would benefit.
The weekend camps will include art, dance, music, theater and recreation.
This weekend, Camp TLC will host a welcome party with a DJ, dance instructors and pizza. A tractor trailer with video games will come as well to entertain the kids.
Baumis estimates the cost to provide the program each weekend until the end of the year will be around $10,000. So far, she’s raised $1,000. “We’re really taking it one weekend at a time, dependent on funding,” she said.
She is hosting a fundraiser for the project at The Quarry in Tuckahoe from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Nov. 15. Tickets are $45. For more information or to reserve a spot, call Baumis at 917-363-5154.
