Letters: A QUEST TO RESTORE CAMP NEUMANN EXPERIENCE

I'M A PHILLY girl, born and raised, but when it was time for college, I headed to our nation's capital.

Now I find myself back here thinking about the last four years. They say college is supposed to be the best years of your life, but for me that's not true. The best times were back when I was able to escape the sweltering Philadelphia summer heat for a few weeks at the Philadelphia Archdiocese's Camp Neumann in Jamison, Pa.

Camp Neumann closed in 2005. In the few lines I have here, I can't begin to do justice to the impact that Camp Neumann had on me and on others who also had the privilege of being there. I've traveled all over the world, and I have yet to find a place that comes close to capturing Camp Neumann's magic.

Camp Neumann opened my eyes to the wonders of the environment. Before camp, I'd never swum in a lake or spent a night under the stars. But it also put me with people from different economic, racial and even religious backgrounds and showed me that the only thing that matters is character.

The most important thing I learned: If you keep an open mind, the world is truly a beautiful place.

After everything that camp had done for me, its closing broke my heart. Every night during that first summer without camp I cried. Those of us who called camp home lost a piece of ourselves. It made us face a stark reality - that we had to get jobs our hearts weren't in and we had to give up the beautiful mission that Camp Neumann was dedicated to.

I'm sick of that reality, the reality that we Philadelphians have to face every day. I think everyone else is, too.

We all pick up the newspaper or turn on the news only to be bombarded by examples of our city's heartbreaking violence.

Almost no one is untouched by this. Sadly, my friends and I from Camp Neumann are no exception. The first summer that camp was closed, Ricky Johnson, who'd been a counselor, was gunned down on the streets of Philadelphia. The only thing my friends and I can take away from such senseless violence is the need for change and the desperate need for hope.

So, I am continuing to hope. To demonstrate this hope, I'm creating a documentary about the positive effect that a summer camp can have on city children. At the same time, I'm building the support needed to create a new camp.

Since Camp Neumann was located in Jamison, and that's where all these dreams began, the new camp will be called Camp Jamison.

It will be a place where the children of Philadelphia can once again find hope as they once did in Camp Neumann.

I hope that the city of Philadelphia will support this initiative both financially and in achieving our mission. To watch my progress and show support, go to www.campjamison.blogspot.com.

I believe that Camp Jamison can and will make a difference. We in Philadelphia know how important it is to have something to believe in - just look at how we feel about our Eagles.

We'll never give up on our sports teams, and we can't afford to ever give up on our children.

Jacqueline Christy

Philadelphia