The owners of Whispering Springs in Ontario, Canada hosted an event – entitled Camp Moonlight – offering two days of activities and a glamping experience for families whose children have a physical disability, free of charge.
Reported by Global News, the families of children with disabilities say a free retreat last week at the glamping resort east of Cobourg, Ontario was an “invaluable” experience.
Whispering Springs Glamping Resort opened in 2015, coining itself as ‘a new way of experiencing the great outdoors’.
Normally hosting weddings, wellness retreats and corporate events, owners Nancy and John Corcoran wanted to expand to help others who might not normally get the chance to camp or experience the outdoors.
For their Camp Moonlight event, the Corcorans offered their tents and property free of charge from August 13 to 15 to families whose children have a physical disability. More than 50 volunteers, including therapists, helped run the retreat.
Speaking to Germain Ma, reporter at Global News, the Corocans’ granddaughter Ayla was the inspiration for Camp Moonlight, which took two years of planning. Ayla suffered a traumatic brain injury during birth three years ago and was diagnosed with quadriplegia cerebral palsy.
“We saw firsthand how lonely and hard [it was]… just with no community to help them get through this,” Nancy said. “We know how hard it is for families to have these special moments in their life while they’re taking care of their child.”
“For us, it was a way of giving back to the community,” John added.
Among the 20 families from across Canada and the United States was mother Sarah-Lynne Gibbons with her seven-year-old twin sons and four-year-old daughter, Zoey. Zoey was born with Type 2 congenital disorder of glycosylation, an extremely rare genetic condition that impacts metabolism.
Gibbons says the disorder affects “every system” in her body. “So it limits us a lot in the things that we can do,” she said. “So many things are inaccessible to us — financially and physically…. It just makes it really tough to try to give my older boys the experiences that they deserve with a sister that has so many limitations.”
However, she said Camp Moonlight made accessibility a key focus, noting “all the details are taken care of” to allow parents some time to “rest and recharge.”
