Camp ReCreation

Did you have fun at our virtual dance in June? We had such a great time that we have decided to do it again! We can’t wait to see you all on Friday, September 25th from 6:30-8 via Zoom! https://prologis.zoom.us/j/91720676443?from=msft

Just a reminder to give someone you love a big hug today! We wish we could hug all our camp friends right now!

Happy Fourth of July from Camp ReCreation! We wish we we could chant U-S-A with Mark today!

We can’t wait to SEE you at the dance on Thursday! Click the link below to join the fun! https://prologis.zoom.us/j/92023286008

Update! We have decided to change the date of our virtual dance due to a schedule conflict with the TRS talent show. (Good luck to all the performers!!) Make sure to mark your calendars for Thursday, June 11th from 6-7:30pm! We can’t wait to see you all there! https://prologis.zoom.us/j/92023286008

Hello Camp ReCreation friends and families! We would usually be putting the finishing touches on our Camp preparations, but, this year, we just hope everyone is safe and well. We would still love to see all your faces this summer, and we are so excited to announce that we will be having a virtual dance via Zoom! Make sure to mark your calendars for June 12th from 6-7:30pm! We can’t wait to see you all there! https://prologis.zoom.us/j/92023286008

Just a reminder that if you would like a Kathi shirt to please email [email protected]! Also, please keep sending us pictures when you receive your shirts!

In honor of Kathi Barber, we have created shirts to celebrate everything she has done for Camp ReCreation. If you can, a $25 donation for two shirts is appreciated but is not necessary. If you want a shirt we'll get you one. Donations can be made online at http://www.camprecreation.org/donate or mailed by check. To receive a shirt, email [email protected] the size shirt you would like and your address. We will be dropping off the shirts to those in the Sacramento area and if you are not local we will mail them. When you receive the shirt, please take a picture and send it to us so we can celebrate Kathi and her dedication to Camp ReCreation.

It was unimaginable even 72 hours ago that I would be writing this today. How could someone who was everything just disappear? We’d all talked to her just hours... before. Auntie Kathi was everything. Saying that my aunt passed away, or even that my godmother did, doesn’t even come close to who she was to me and my family. She was my third parent. She was the embodiment of what family is, the highest example of it that I’ve ever seen anywhere. It doesn’t seem right to even talk about her in past tense because everything she gave and built and breathed life into for us is still here, the brightest shining lights in every hill and valley of our memory from the day we were born all the way up to 72 hours ago. I don’t need to go into a long list here of all the amazing experiences she gave to us because I already have. All those concerts I’ve gone to over the past 25 years, every trip to Disneyland and Santa Cruz, every joyful family gathering, the almost embarrassingly full under the Christmas tree spoilsthat was all her. You’ve seen it in real time, and there was a lifetime more long before we all shared our life highlights in public. And the rest is too personal. The moments in living rooms post dinner and well into the night where she made that room the coolest and most fun place in the world to be because she was in it, or the times where it was a sanctuary of comfort and safety and the deepest, most secure love one could ever feel because she was in itthere are no words to talk about that. And we’re getting through this because even if she’s not here, that sanctuary still is for my sisters and parents and me to hold space in for each other, to grieve and to heal. There are a few points of peace that I have. I am at peace that she knew completely how much she meant to me and how grateful I was for everything she gave and was, and how much I loved her. And I am at peace that I know completely how much she loved and appreciated me. It was always preposterous when she would tell me and my sisters that we gave her more than she could ever give us; that is objectively not true even by half, but it gives me peace knowing that somehow we were able to bring her some of the joy that she gave us in the greatest abundance. If there is such a thing as the meaning of life or the highest aspiration that a person can strive for in the time that they have, it would be nothing less or more than to bring about as much joy and meaning and hope and unconditional love to as many people as possible. Auntie Kathi did that to a higher degree in the time she had than most people do even a fraction of with twice as much time. And while some may spread themselves thin, impersonally distributing gifts to many from afar, there are probably over 100 people who would think of themselves as Auntie Kathi’s favorite person in the world and for whom she was their favorite. That’s how valued she made every single person in her life feel, and that value was as genuine as could be. She always saw more good in others than she was willing to see in herself and could be self-deprecating to a fault, but I hope she knows that she was truly the angel she saw in everyone. Right now the loss is still in abstract. It’s impossible to even fully acknowledge. It will get more real with every birthday and holiday and family gathering that she’s not physically present forand not just present but at the center of. But someday we at least can perhaps find the clarity to be more grateful for the time that we had with her than devastated for the time that we won’t. She was always our family’s patron saint and guardian angel, and that will never change. Her endlessly generous heart and unconditionally loving spirit will continue to be our firmest foundation, our most steadfast glue, and our deepest joy, and these will be the qualities that I will work every day of my life to embody to the best of my ability. If she was in your life, then you know all of this. If you didn’t know her, then just listen to My Girl or Groovin or I Can Hear Music or anything by her beloved Brittany Howard, and you’ll get to know her a little. I can’t miss her yet. She’s still here. She always will be. And these words I’ve written here cannot even begin to touch how much and how deeply I love her and am eternally grateful for every single moment in her presence.

It comes with a heavy heart to learn that Kathi Barber has passed away. We are deeply saddened by this news. Kathi Barber was a beacon of kindness, friendship, and love for our campers and counselors. Kathi’s love and kindness was the model of what Camp ReCreation strives to be. Our prayers go out to her family, and all those lives she touched.

Happy world down syndrome day! Today is a day to celebrate our friends with down syndrome! We celebrate it on 3/21 because people with down syndrome have an extra copy of their 21st chromosome.

A beautiful smile for this beautiful friday! . . . #camprecreation #camprec #campingtime #peacelovecamp #disabilityawareness #abilitynotdisability #campfriends #instagood #liveauthentic #donate #nonprofit #behappy #seetheability #theluckyfew #nothingdownaboutit #downrightperfect #charity #acceptance #inclusion #dogood #volunteer #charity

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at our Spaghetti Feed Fundraiser tonight! We still have a little bit of room if you would like to join us at 5:30pm