CAMP GOOD GRIEF

In addition to volunteers, pet therapy dogs also attend camp. They complement the work the volunteers do and sometimes reach campers in a way a volunteer cannot. Kids are drawn to the pet therapy dogs because they don't tell them what to do. Campers can tell the dogs their secrets. Some cry to the dogs. They are critical to our work with the campers. They also help some of the campers who are disengaged; they are more drawn to the dogs. And somehow, the dogs just know who needs them.

The yellow balloon release is our way of memorializing and remembering our loved ones by sending pictures and letters up in the sky tied to balloons. It is a very powerful image, a way of helping to create a ceremony of remembering and a physical symbol of the release of grief.