Do you remember the pancake dinner/breakfast and silent auction that Bethlehem held last May?  The funds raised, including supplemental funds from Thrivent Financial, were over $3,000.  The money was sent to LSSM and designated for sending four foster kids to Camp Michi-Lu-Ca for a week of camp activities.  The balance of the money is going towards building a chapel at Hope Village in Acme which is in the planning stage right now.  The following article describes the experience of one of the campers.  I think you will be pleased that you made it possible for kids like Zollie to attend camp – certainly an experience he and three others would otherwise not have had.

Children in foster care have a hard time being separated from siblings.  Sometimes it’s even more upsetting for them than being separated from parents.  To help brothers and sisters in foster care spend time together, Lutheran Social Services and Living Water Ministries set up a special program this summer at Michi-Lu-Ca for siblings in foster care.

In June, 32 children living in foster care with Lutheran Social Services spent a week at the camp with their brothers and sisters.  For Zollie Cole, 15, it was not only a fun week but a way to stretch his wings.  The camp staff quickly picked up Zollie’s innate leadership skills.  After the June program, Zollie and another camper were invited back to Michi-Lu-Ca for a one-week Leadership Training School.

Zollie and his five siblings were abused at home.  “One of my sisters was strong enough to call the police,” he said.  All the children were removed from the home.

No foster family was available for Zollie right away, so he spent a few weeks in a shelter, which upset his routine.  After he moved to a foster home, things settled down; he was able to concentrate on his schoolwork again and his grades improved.  He now lives with an aunt in Ypsilanti, where he plans to stay.  His three brothers live together in a Detroit foster home, and his two sisters were placed in two other foster homes.

Zollie went to camp with two of his brothers, Zorriah, 13 and Zarrace, 11.  The brothers loved spending time together.  Zollie loved the staff – they were great role models, he said.  A few months ago, Zollie became a vegetarian, and he was pleased that the camp provided special food for him whenever meat was on the menu.  Most of all, he appreciated the opportunity to meet other children with similar life stories.  “We were all in foster care with Lutheran Social Services.  At the end of the day, we were all friends,” he said.  Many in the group still keep in touch through Facebook.

Between the two camp sessions, Zollie kept busy helping out at a dry cleaning shop near his aunt’s home.  He sees his brothers and sisters as often as he can.  He’s looking forward to his junior year at Lincoln High School in Ypsilanti.  His favorite subjects are biology and English, and he wants to be a pediatrician.  “I really like kids, and I like to work,” he said.