Hands to Love brings strength, hope and compassion to children with upper limb differences.
On Feb. 7, the nonprofit will host a fundraiser at the UF Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute to celebrate the upcoming 15th anniversary of its Hand Camp, which will be April 10-12 at Camp Crystal Lake in Starke.
Ruthie Dell, an occupational therapist at UF Health Shands, and her husband, Paul Dell, a Shands orthopedic surgeon, run the camp together. Children with upper limb differences come from all over the country to participate in the supportive environment.
It costs $575 to send one child to Hand Camp, and last year, the organization funded 65 children. This year, Ruthie Dell said in a press release that she is expecting 83 families, making the goal for the upcoming fundraiser $50,000.
The fundraiser will include a virtual tour of Hand Camp and a silent auction.
UF students in Friends of Hands to Love, the organization’s club on campus, will help with preparation, setup and cleanup.
Every year, UF students prove that difference does not equal disability, Ruthie Dell said. Most of the roughly 150 volunteers are from UF, and it would be difficult to run the camp without them, she said.
“They make the best ‘family pals,’ and they turn out to be great role models for the kids as well,” Dell said. “I feel like we would have a hard time doing the camp without them.”
Jerelyne Idica, Friends of Hands to Love president and a UF masters of occupational therapy graduate student, has been volunteering at Hand Camp for six years.
“What keeps me coming back is seeing the kids come back stronger, even with differences,” Idica, 24, said. “They are able to see that their difference is not a disability.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 1/30/2015 under the headline “Shands offers weekend camp for children with differences"]
Above is a participant in Hand Camp. Children in the camp can take part in activities like archery or climbing. The camp’s motto is, “differences do not equal disability.”
