Local women continue annual volunteer efforts at MS camp; are joined by first local camper
It’s all about the smiles and hugs for a group of dedicated volunteers from Borderland who annually donate their time to a multiple sclerosis camp.
And this year, among the now-familiar smiles of the campers — some who they see year-after-year — was the familiar grin of someone many of them know well.
Littlefork Medical Center resident Pat Multer was the first camper from Borderland to make the journey to the shores of Cedar Lake, located near Maple Lake, Minn., and join others living with MS for a week of fun activities and camaraderie.
“It was pretty nice,” Multer reported. “We pick what we want to do. We’re one of the lucky ones.”
Multer added that her favorite activities were going fishing on a pontoon boat several times and enjoying an outdoor cookout. She was pleased to catch the most fish during the excursion on the lake with her helper on the outing, LMC nurse Kathy Wegner.
“I’m what you call hot stuff,” Multer joked, and then laughed, but she was quick to note Wegner’s assistance in holding the fishing rod.
When asked if Multer wanted to go back to camp next year, she replied with an excited, “Oh yeah!”
From Bingo to basket weaving to horseback riding to shopping on eBay, the activities offered campers are varied.
Seeing the campers enjoy themselves is rewarding for the volunteers.
“It’s one week of their life that they get to do (these activities),” said volunteer aid Sharron Westerberg. “The week they’re at camp is the happiest of their year.”
“Once you get to camp, nobody tells you that you can’t do this or you can’t do that,” she added.
Because many are confined to a wheelchair or have other physical limitations, the volunteers said that this may be the first time in a long time the campers have experienced the activities they are able to do at MS Camp.
Westerberg recalled when one of the campers started crying when they were able to stand for the first time in years while in a swimming pool. Those types of memories, and knowing that they are making a difference, has the volunteers returning year after year.
“The people are so thankful for everything that you do,” said Wanda Linder, who has assisted at the MS camp for many years.
Linder and Westerberg have spent one week each summer at the camp volunteering as aids for more than two and a half decades, nearly as long as the camp has been in session. Wegner started going to the camp 7 years ago.
Westerberg and fellow LMC employee Ruth Thompson saw a posting that volunteers were needed at the camp after its inception in the early 1980s. After thoroughly enjoying their time and deciding immediately to return the next year, they recruited co-workers Linder and Mary Ellen Panchot. Gladys Wimmer also volunteered at the camp annually for nearly a decade.
Volunteer aids help at camp by tending to daily living activities, assisting with activities and their preparation, helping campers move around the camp, and communicating to nurses about the campers’ needs. Nurses do much the same job at camp as a nurse would anywhere, such as dispensing medication and tending to minor injuries.
“It’s like a family reunion when you get there,” Westerberg said.
But traveling to and fro, the women make stops and enjoy their time together. On the way, they said that they swap stories and remark on memories. It seems to be a bonding experience, and even a bit of a vacation, for the group. It was, after all, the picturesque lake setting that first attracted the Borderland women to the camp.
And while they all agree that the camp is enjoyable for those with MS, the volunteers get something special out of the experience, too.
“I feel good when I get home,” Wegner said.
“This week out of their life is so special to them, so it has to be special to you,” Westerberg said.
“They uplift you somehow,” agreed Linder.
The women said that they would like to see even more people from northern Minnesota take advantage of the camp, whether as a camper or a volunteer.
The camp, which is run by the National MS Society, Minnesota Chapter, is open to any person with MS in the state. Campers are chosen and assigned activities on a first-come, first-served basis, so early registration is advised.
This year, there were two camps, one May 3-8 and another Aug. 23-28. The LMC group, along with Multer, participated in the August session.
