No words to adequately express the profundity of the experience Wamp provided me. My two weeks there volunteering in the kitchen turned into five. An incredible setting, overflowing with incredible humans doing amazing things. My life was altered and I won't ever be the same!! So great. Wamp Dust is REAL and it makes everything different. I LOVE MY CAMP WAMP LIFE!
I volunteered my photography services this past summer for the campers and staff. I cannot put into words how emotionally rewarding it was to see the joy that each individual experienced. Life changing perspectives, teamwork and positivity were abundant every single day. The happiness that is shared, the friendships that are forged and the totality of the entire experience is something that only exists in storybooks and fairytales. "Yes I Can" is the message. I left Camp Wamp with a full heart and a different outlook. The magic that Camp Wamp provides is what this world needs more of. It will change you. You will love harder, forgive more and take home an enlightened perspective on the world of disability.
You simply cannot find a more professional and compassionate, Founder and Leader of Camp Wamp than Stephen Wampler. That says a-lot, when leadership comes with authority, compassion and passion the Foundation runs with compassion, passion and excellence.
The physically challenged children and their parents who benefit from Camp Wamp get a life changing and empowering experience. These children get a chance to see what it feels like to experience challenge in a safe, loving and caring outdoor, experiential, environment that gives them skills to grow on. And can I add, fun, fun, fun! What more could you ask of a non-profit?
Lynn--Volunteer, non-profit, experienced professional, Mother and in addition, Aunt of a physically challenged nephew Ryan (with muscular dystrophy who passed at age 16) who I wish had lived long-enough to attend Camp Wamp.
This was a life changing experience for my son Mathew Stanwood. We are going to drive from Southern Colorado to Camp Wamp again this year and Mathews sister is going to be a Counselor in Training for at least one session maybe two! Meeting Stephen Wampler for the first time was amazing but the entire staff made me and my other three kids who were not attending camp just dropping brother off feel so at ease. Mathew came home with magical works of art and a new found confidence he had lost a long time ago. He had so much fun at camp it was the best experience ever!
A nonprofit, like none I personally have never been involved with. It was pure pleasure working with the amazing, qualified, fun, kind, top notch, educated staff chosen by Stephen and Elizabeth Wampler, founders of Camp Wamp. Everyone involved was 100% prepared for our ‘kick off summer’ at deer lake. Or so we thought....there is no way to prepare for the deep emotional experience as the campers arrived and we spent a life changing week together. This week was over the moon, filled with laughter, challenges, tears of joy, creativity, great food, unbelievable conversations of goals and dreams. Making life long friends and looking towards next year and years to follow was the only way “saying goodbye” each week was bearable. I highly recommend this clean, safe, qualified, certified camp for any youth with physical disabilities. It is unbelievable and will alter the future of all who step foot on the grounds. Join us, donate to us, volunteer for us and feel the love at Camp Wamp, come join changeing yours and others lives forever.
This camp is an amazing life changing experience for kids. I had the opportunity to see first hand how the kids were transformed during their week. This is PRICELESS. The camp is so professionally run by people with experience who cares. Stephen Wampler went through similar camps as a kid and has years of experience and making this camp experience as incredible as it is today. This a must do experience for campers!
Steve & Elizabeth Wampler plus all the Volunteers and Donors have done an amazing job of transforming a former Girl Scout Camp into a Inclusive place to stay for kids with physical challenges. My wife and I visited Camp Wamp in July of 2018 in our RV and we were amazed when we arrived to find this beautiful place in a serene setting and a with a lovely lake for swimming, boating and fishing. The kids we met were all having a great time and so were the counselors and caregivers. We were thrilled to take a ride around the lake to see all the buildings that may eventually be converted for places to stay. The main building where the kids were having lunch and FUN, felt very comfortable and we were welcomed by the Wampler’s and staff. I would strongly recommend Camp Wamp to all families for their children with disabilities.
I attended Camp Wamp from 2008-2014 and camp back in 2018 for reunion week. Camp Wamp is place of hope, joy, and magic. Ever person who comes will have a life changing experience no questions asked! At Camp Wamp I learned that I have my own voice and I am loved and accepted for exactly who I am. Every time I have leave I get very emotional and sad. In 2017 my dad and I wrote a song called “My Camp Wamp Life”. This song talks about my experience, adventure, and all the fun that exists at Camp Wamp. If you ever get the chance to go do it!!!
I was a counselor at Camp Camp this past summer. I ended up having the best experience i could have ever hoped for. I met so many amazing people- staff and campers! We showed campers that there are no limits and they can experience the wilderness just like other children. It was amazing seeing the smiles on all of the camper's faces throughout the whole week!
My son and I chose the Stephen J Wampler Foundation as a charity to help as we have for the past 2 years during my son's brakes from school. I have known Stephen and Elizabeth the founders of this great charity for almost 25 years. I have seen the trials that they've gone through to make this camper reality for the children with physical disabilities. I myself being a disabled veteran lunch to help in any way possible. What I wasn't prepared for this watching the blessing that this Camp brought to so many children's lives this past summer. I was blessed to stay on all summer. the opportunities it affords these children is nothing short of amazing. I watched children that have never been away from their parents nor been outdoors except for maybe in a park. Some never being off asphalt or cement in their life. Take on the challenges of hiking in the outdoors, possibly going canoeing for the first time in their lives under the watchful eyes of the amazing counselors and Camp staff or sleeping under the stars. Watching them wake up their first morning there at camp and seeing a whole new energy a whole new light was one of the greatest blessings I've had in a long time. I pray that all that find out about this wonderful foundation and their mission choose to dig deep so it can continue to grow and spread to as many children as possible.
This Camp is Magic! I volunteered here the summer of 2017 and 2018, Getting the new camp ready for the first group of kids. It’s hard to put into words how inspiring Stephen and Elizabeth Wampler are and the impact they have had on our community and the kids who attend the camp. Stephen is a light and after talking to him for 5 minutes you forget he has any disability at all. He inspires all around him. Elizabeth, his wife, is the most positive person I know and she doesn’t know the word no-as a couple they are a great force doing great things and are having a huge impact on the “disabled” world, making that word obsolete. It was a great honor and great fun working at Camp Wamp and I cant wait for next year. If you want to support a foundation that is really making a difference please support the Stephen Wampler Foundation, Inc.
I spent many days at the camp helping prepare it for the campers. It’s an absolutely stunning location and the facilities are second to none. It’s truly a magical place where children with disabilities can really, truly experience the outdoors like nowhere else.
High in the Sierras, this beautiful location at Deer Lake is unique and amazing.
Our son Tristen went to Camp Wamp when he was 13 and 14. He loved every minute of camping in the mountains. Being from Florida, it was definitely a change of scenery and the staff and experience was memorable and life-changing.
I can't thank Stephen and Elizabeth Wampler enough for my child's experience at Camp Wamp.
This residential camp for disabled children is a one of a kind world class program. My child attended this program past July and son has been forever changed. He still talks about his experience every day after school. He says "mom, I want to go to college like Mr. Wampler did".
He doesn't see his disability as a problem anymore and says I'm a "rock star" now because people stare at me just as they would if someone famous were walking down the street.
My son can't wait to go back next summer and be a kid again.
Thanks,
J.C. Farley
This foundation is exceptional!!! Spending this past summer at camp I saw so much growth in the campers and staff; including me. Together we learned how to have laugh at our differences, Love who we are, make memories and art at the same time, and simply be joyful. This foundation is life changing for anyone that is involved!!
I can't say enough good things about this foundation and the people who run it! Their outdoor adventure program for kids with physical disabilities is extraordinary. The facility located in the wilderness north of Lake Tahoe is stunningly beautiful and well equipped to support the loving volunteer and paid staff of the camp. Truly a wonderful program deserving of the highest accolades.
What Stephen and Elizabeth have done for kids with disabilities is what Walt Disney did for Disneyland. It’s absolutely breathtaking. They let kids be kids !!! Come visit,
come volunteer, come be a kid with these kids and you will leave a better person,
I promise.!!
This is an amazing camp! My son and I volunteered there during a week camping session and got to see kids flourish in the setting. The camp is run by amazing people. The counselors are smart, hardworking and fun. Can't wait to come back again and see kids blossom in this amazing camp setting!
What Stephen Wampler and his foundation do to help kids with disabilities is incredible. It was one of the toughest volunteer events but the one I had the most fun at. I'm looking forward to helping Stephen and his foundation whenever they need it.
I have known Steve and Elizabeth for almost fifteen years as fellow members of the community and as friends. I have been up to Camp Wamp twice now. Everything about the series of events and life history leading up to the establishment of this wonderful Camp and the Foundation is special.
There is unity of purpose here that is laser focused and you KNOW what that purpose is the second you meet Steve or Elizabeth or any of their staff and the instant you set foot on the property. The ethos and underlying philosophy is so grounded in the idea of helping others realize and exceed their potential that it provides a compass for every decision they make.
It provides the volunteers the exact same compass and the camp attendees can feel it. The Foundation and the Camp, I believe, are peerless in this pursuit. Without a doubt I will continue to visit, volunteer for, and financially support The Stephen J Wampler Foundation.
5+ Stars - I personally experienced this truly magical camp this summer 2018 in the High Sierras in Northern Lake Tahoe near Soda Springs, CA. This is an incredible foundation that an amazing summer camp called www.campwamp.org. Camp Wamp is an outdoor recreational summer camp that focuses on It's about what you CAN do! Adventure. Optimism. Self-reliance. Ambition. for kids with physical disabilities.
Stephen J Wampler Foundation's Mission: "To provide life changing experiences to children with physical disabilities" Learn more 800-381-6891 - 941 Orange Ave #440 Coronado, CA 92118 www.wamplerfoundation.org
Very grateful to be part of this cause. Sincerely www.paulbradleysmith.com
This foundation is so inspiring! As a camp counselor at Camp Wamp, I saw some incredible moments, I will never forget! Each camper, counselor, staff member, activity and challenge taught me something new that you don't learn in school. The camp is well organized and safe and run by amazing selfless volunteers who serve as positive role models for the campers, who in return serve as inspiration and motivation to us all. My experience with Camp Wamp was life changing and I will return every year that I can! Helping the campers build there independence and assisting them with activities to enjoy nature in a rural area by making them accessible and fun, is priceless. It builds an environment for the campers to be themselves and build confidence. Having a supportive community to help them discover how to accept their bodies and make the best of it by beating the odds and doing the unimaginable, is one of the most valuable traits of this organization. Instead of letting their disabilities prevent them from participating in fun outdoor activities, we make it possible to experience what nature has to offer! Hands down, the best non-profit organization out there! Love my Camp Wamp family! Absolutely life changing.