April Girl's Camp Re-Cap!

On April 25-26 we had our first Girl's Overnight tent campout of 2025 and it was amazing! We had our largest camp ever with 11 girls attending. These girls were amazing and it was so awesome to see connections made as they had fun together over the weekend.

We want to first start by thanking Dominique, Tiffany, and Kelsie for spending part of their weekend with these girls. These camps truly do not happen without your support!

Camp started off with some fun crafts and games on Friday night. It started out quiet, but as the girls got to know each other and got more comfortable, they started to open up and talk more. The girls enjoyed a trail walk, some time snuggling our brand new kitten, and some time with the goats before dinner.

Friday night ended with games in the field, followed by a campfire, singing, and of course, s'mores! These girls had a blast around the campfire and enjoyed singing and telling stories.

After a restful night of sleep, they were up bright and early for breakfast and more games before heading out to the marina for a boat day with Cornerstone Charter. The girls got to spend the morning on the water with Captain Jay. They got to swim and even got to drive the boat. Thank you, Captain Jay, for another great day on the water. We are so grateful for your partnership!

After returning to camp, the girls spent the afternoon in the pool, swimming and playing games. What made this time extra special was a reaffirming of why we started Three Rivers Respite. It was during this pool time that some of the older girls realized that TRR is a camp for kids in foster care. Up to this point, they did not realize that all of the girls at camp were either in foster care or adopted. This realization opened the flood gates as the girls shared stories, frustrations, and surprise at the realization that they all had that in common. They quickly formed a strong bond around this shared experience of foster care. They left camp asking when they could come back and exchanging numbers so they can keep in touch.

When God first gave us the vision for Three Rivers Respite, one of the main parts of that vision was to build community for kids in foster care, for them to connect with other kids who are going through similar experiences. Too often, kids in foster care walk through their experiences alone, afraid to share their story for fear of being the only one like them. At TRR, we want to provide a place where they can build real, lasting community with other kids who have similar experiences. We want TRR to be a place where they can be open and share these experiences and find comfort from others who know what they are going through. God created us for community, for friendship. We want to be able to provide this for kids in foster care, and TRR is just one more way to do this. This weekend, we got a brief glimpse of this part of the vision in real life. What a blessing it is to see these kids connecting and building relationships. Our prayer is that the relationships built at camp will continue into their daily lives and be a source or healing and hope for these kids.

Thank you for your support that makes these connections and camps possible! We can't wait to see what else God will do in this 2025 camp season!