Camp Firely
2024
Camp Firefly 2024 was a special experience. And we were lucky to host it on the beautiful Camp Manitou grounds once again. The temperature was +37 that day, so our grief campers and our volunteers spent a lot of time using the pool, slip n slide, and the mist tent to stay cool.
Many of our grief campers came from Indigenous backgrounds and families, but we also had kids from Italian, Portuguese, Brazilian, Filipino, Welsh, English, and French-Canadian backgrounds. Our staffing team also spanned many different cultural backgrounds too. Diversity and inclusion are key characteristics of Camp Firefly. It was beautiful to see everyone gather together … towards the same cause. Grief is a universal experience after all.
Our grief campers spent the day alternating between summer camp activities, grief therapy activities, and Indigenous cultural ceremony.
Our grief therapy activities included things like “memory pillows” and “memory frames”, which are ways to get kids thinking about, and talking about, their loved ones who died. They then get to take those pillows and frames home with them, to help remind them of their bravery that day. And help them stay close to the loved ones they lost. We also added “music therapy” this year, where the kids got to learn how to play violins and pianos and guitars from some very talented musicians. And we added “animal therapy” where they got to cuddle therapy dogs and be reminded of the power of connections with animals.
For the summer camp activities, we created “free fun time” where grief campers got to spend that time however they wanted. The options included: swimming, kayaking, wall-climbing, basketball and football, archery, and forest walks. Encouraging kids to choose their own activities gives them agency and maximizes their enjoyment. We also had: candy guessing games, music, dancing, a sunglasses station, a fidget and squishy toy station, and facepainting. Camp Firefly prioritizes fun, and it always will.
The day started winding down with an incredibly powerful “cultural demonstration” put on by Buffalo Red Thunder. They drummed, sang, and danced for our grief campers. And then they got everyone up dancing with them. They even brought the kids up to join the drum circle at the end! What a beautiful moment that was.
And we closed Camp Firefly with our “final grief ceremony”, where our grief campers wrote letters to their loved ones who died. And burned those letters in the fire, to release their messages into the atmosphere in a way where maybe their loved ones could hear them. What a beautiful way to finish Camp Firefly 2024. ThPicey showed personal bravery all day, they looked out for one another in hard moments, and they honoured their loved ones in the most powerful way. We couldn’t be prouder of our grief campers.
