Cape May Church Hosts Beach Day for Camden Children

CAPE MAY – Cape May United Methodist Church provided a day of excitement, fun, and memories July 13 for children of the Camden Neighborhood Center. Favorable weather helped make it one that was enjoyed by all. 
More than 100 children and 25 chaperones traveled here. They were treated to lunch in the church Fellowship Hall at noon. After that, they took their bus to the Philadelphia Avenue Beach for a few hours on the sand and in the surf.
This was a true community event with other city entities donating 150 beach towels for the day’s outing. Local businesses providing hundreds of bottles of water. Other individual donations helped cover the cost of sandwich trays. Church children collected toys for their Camden peers to use on the beach and then take home.
Church members volunteered to prepare snack bags and dessert, and they pitched in to serve lunch.
Volunteers organized games, and one church member collected 1,000 seashells for a treasure hunt on the beach.
The City of Cape May arranged free beach access for the day, and the Cape May Kiwanis Club offered parking spaces for the transportation that conveyed the group from Camden.
Before boarding buses to head to the beach, groups of excited children gathered their new towels and toys, huddling with friends and conferring as to what to expect.
“I’ve been dreaming about this day for a long time, and now it’s here,” shouted out one of the smaller children.
“This is the third time we’ve organized the event although the first time was four years ago since last year one of their buses caught on fire and the kids couldn’t make it,” remembered Scoop Gruver, a 35-year member of the church. “These kids can’t swim, even in a pool, and let alone have ever seen the ocean, so it’s quite an experience for them,” he continued.
“The church’s Sunday School was the originator of the idea and our men’s and women’s group also support this summer outing as well as give financial support throughout the year and make visits to the Center,” explained Anita McLeish, another Church member and volunteer serving lunch with Gruver.
Spearheading the overall effort were church members, Debbie and Dave Chapman, who were working at the Church to ensure everything was properly set up, taken down and proceeded smoothly in between. “Many, many civic groups in Cape May City have pitched in to make this day for the Camden kids really memorable. Their ages range from 5 years old to about 15 years old and a lot of the helpers are older kids who graduated from the program.
“They will have loads to do on Philadelphia Avenue beach, the city has even arranged for extra lifeguards because there are so many children. The counselors form a line in the water and beyond that the kids know they can’t go. All in all, this is a great day for everyone, not just the kids, but the church, all our volunteers and supporters and the overall community,” concluded Deb Chapman.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.