Speech given by Texas Lions
Camp Counselor
At the Spouses Brunch, August 2, 2008
Hello. My name is Patricia Rodriguez. I am a junior at the
University of Texas and this is my second summer working at Texas
Lions Camp. I am very honored and excited to be here today to tell
you some things you may not know about Texas Lions Camp. You already
know that TLC is a summer camp for children ages 7-16 with physical
handicaps and diabetes. You already know that we offer this summer
service free of charge to the families of our campers. You also
already know that we are funded through the hard work and
fundraising service of dedicated Lions Clubs around Texas, like you
and your families.
You may not know that, every morning, all the campers meet at the
flagpole and they get their counselors dirty as a reward for
cleaning their cabin the best. You may not know that we have themes
every week that have the kids dressed up as aliens, nerds, ghosts
and everything in between. You also may not know that we have a
campfire every night, when counselors and administrators come to
talk to the campers about self-respect, always giving everything
your best, and believing in one’s self.
All of these things and many, many more make up the experience that
everyone involved at Texas Lions Camp tries to give each and every
camper. On camp, we emphasize the “can-do” attitude that says there
isn’t anything that these kids can’t do. We teach life skills and
independence and offer the opportunity for campers to do things they
haven’t done before whether it’s tying their own shoes for the first
time or riding a horse.
I applied to Texas Lions Camp on a whim. I was looking for a summer
job so I wouldn’t have to go home and work. Before I came here I had
never met anyone who was blind or deaf. I had never experienced
cerebral palsy and I didn’t understand diabetes. I was entirely
unprepared for what was about to happen to me. Texas Lions Camp
changed my life. This is how a team is supposed to work and how
people are supposed to treat each other. This is the attitude that
we should all bring to our lives everyday. This is children
overcoming adversity and rejection to teach everyone who lives and
works at Texas Lions Camp what we are all capable of.
Texas Lions Camp gave me direction. Much to the dismay of my parents
I had yet to choose a career path much less a major before I came to
TLC. After my first summer, I was living and communicating with a
population I never could before. I am now in my second year of sign
language classes with plans to attend grad school at a deaf
university in Washington, DC. I want to be an interpreter.
Texas Lions Camp gave me a summer, two summers now, that I will
never forget. It’s the hardest, fastest, most tiring, most amazing
work I have ever done in my life. A TLC counselor works 24 hours a
day, 6 days a week and every one of us will tell you – it’s the most
fun we have ever had. We wouldn’t beg to return, summer after
summer, if it wasn’t perfect, complete, sustained happiness, the way
these kids can make you feel.
But what camp has given me is nothing compared to what camp can do
for these kids. It’s hard to believe only hours ago I was walking
along side a camper on her first horseback ride. And in that same
day, that same camper gave herself her own insulin shot for the
first time. It took 2 hours, a lot of pleading and begging and
crying (on both our parts) and probably four different staff
members, but today that child gets to tell her mom and dad that she
can better manage her diabetes. A couple of weeks ago, on our way to
the rock wall, a camper said to me that he couldn’t climb the rock
wall. When I asked him why not he told me, “I just can’t.” He did.
My staff and I watched him climb all the way to the top. Everyday,
anywhere you walk on camp there are a thousand of these moments.
This is what I get to do everyday. Help amazing, talented kids find
out what they are capable of. And in return, I get to find out what
I can do as well. When I return to the real world when summer ends
and people ask me what I do, I tell them that kids change my life
for a living. It’s the most accurate way to describe the miracle of
Texas Lions Camp. Someplace where people are challenged and tried
and succeed at their most difficult goal, overcoming themselves. I
am honored to be a camp counselor at Texas Lions Camp. It is the
best thing I have ever done with my life.
Something else you may not know about Texas Lions Camp – tomorrow is
our last day. Tomorrow we all have to drive away from camp and
return to our schools, jobs, lives and families. But what we are
taking with us, campers and counselors alike, is worth the journey.
Worth the time and the effort, worth the sweat and tears, worth
every second we get to spend with these kids. I am blessed beyond
imagination to get to live and work with amazing people and amazing
kids. I owe you and your families a great deal of thanks, for your
very large part in creating Texas Lions Camp. Thank you so much from
the bottom of my heart.
|
 June Edition of
"Casting The Future"
Now Available Online (Click
Here)
Join the Excitement
Find a Club in
your area (Click Here)
Proposed Constitution & Bylaws
To be voted on at Convention
Club Contest
The district has an approved budget that includes awards for the
“Outstanding Club” and Membership Growth.
OUTSTANDING CLUB
Simple rules: The
contest is a ratio rating of the clubs based on data entered
into the Monthly/Yearly Activity Report and their membership.
Award: A Texas Lions Camp “Brick” will be purchased naming the
club as the “outstanding” club for 2008/2009 Lions year.
Each club is required to submit an annual activity report to
Lions Club International. This report tallies the monies and
hours committed to Service activities throughout the Lion year.
We will use these numbers to determine the “Outstanding Club”.
Total hours, dollars and eyeglasses colleted and 1000 points for
a membership gain will be the totaled and used as the base
number to be divided by number of members in the club.
The secretaries are encouraged to submit the activity report
monthly, Lions International keeps a cumulative total for the
club and uses the accumulative total on July 2nd to compile
their annual reports,
All clubs will be enrolled in the contest and no special reports
will be required of the club. Award will be presented at July
2009 cabinet meeting.
MEMBERSHIP GROWTH
A Texas Lions Camp
Brick will be purchased to honor the District 2S1 Lions that
recruit the greatest number of new members between July 1, 2008
and June 30, 2009. The information will be obtained from Lions
International official membership records.
USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum
September 24-26, 2009
Memphis, Tennessee
www.usacanadalionsforum.org |
