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Saturday, June 21, 2008
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Camp wants vets to know it is there for them
Senior Reporter On the shores of Glacier Lake in McGregor, a camp for military combat veterans and their families provides food, recreation and counseling at no cost to veterans and their families.
What the camp needs are veterans willing to seek those services and the help provided by people who understand the transition from combat to civilian life isn't an easy path.
Extended deployments exact tolls on marriages and family life and recent suicide statistics for veterans are alarming. Project New Hope, on the edge of the Savannah State Forest, provides education and services to families in a camp setting with a quarter mile of lakeshore, private walking trails, cabins and dining.
The next retreat is July 4-6, with reservations requested by June 30. Additional camps are planned for the fall.
"The hardest thing is to actually get the vet there," said Bruce Billington, a Navy and Persian Gulf War veteran and one of the founders of Project New Hope. Billington said a hurdle may be veterans don't know enough about the camp. "We are very low pressure."
Camp New Hope's goal is "to provide veterans and their families the education, training and skills necessary to manage their lives after wartime service." The camp is designed to assist combat veterans from any war.
Children's activities, hiking trails, fishing and recreation are offered. Short daytime presentations are offered at different times with breakout sessions. Sessions may include topics such as presentations on trauma, stress reduction, anger management, sleep solutions, problem solving, communication and money management, among others.
FYI
ä Information about Project New Hope is available online at www.projectnewhope.net.
ä Contact Bruce Billington at 851-0804 or e-mail info@projectnewhope.net, or write P.O. Box 551, Pequot Lakes, MN 56472.
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Billington said if the veteran and the family just want to make use of the camp to get away together, that is fine. The counseling is available 24 hours a day. The goal is to have a small setting with 10 to 15 families for each retreat. Billington said he wishes his problem was trying to find room for all the veterans who wanted to attend. In the past he's had veterans, perhaps at the urging of their families, sign up but then decide not to attend. He recently had a mother who sent him an e-mail at midnight searching for a similar camp closer to her Arkansas home. Billington had plane tickets for mother and son in two days as people donated travel miles once they heard about the need. Billington said that's the kind of support out there for military families. Now he hopes the woman's son will be willing to make the trip. What better gauge of the need than a mother looking for help at midnight, Billington said.
"I know there is a need out there," he said. "And I know we have an ability to help. This project at its core is about people. It's about families. Once you see that, it's easy to get behind the project."
Billington said his father was a Vietnam veteran who struggled after he returned home.
"We can't forget the guys who served in Vietnam also," Billington said. "Even 40 years later guys are still suffering."
The word Billington wants to get out is that help is available, as much or as little as the veteran is seeking.
Project New Hope's staff is all volunteer and has a steering committee and advisory panel with veterans serving on both. Private donations fund the camp and support has come from many Lions Clubs, American Legion Clubs and VFW clubs. Project New Hope's organizers have a goal of being a national leader and model for family retreats.
Billington is active with the Lions Club and the project is one of three finalists considered by the Lions Club International as best new project of the year in the world as part of the Challenge to Change award program. The Lions are in more than 200 countries. Project New Hope is the only project being considered from North and South America. Not bad for a project started and created in Pequot Lakes just last September, Billington said.
Project New Hope is looking for guidance from someone with fundraising and marketing experience. And Project New Hope wristbands are being sold to help offset transportation costs and other needs, like a baby crib.
"Any support anyone could offer would be great," Billington said, adding they are always interested in new ideas or ways they can help veterans. More can be accomplished together than separately, Billington said.
Veterans who have taken part in Project New Hope's camp talk about the friendship and fellowship of being with others who understand what they have gone through during their service to country.
Billington said: "Some of the best work happens sitting around the campfire."
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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