Rent-to-own News - Countryside team volunteers for differently-abled campers

Jason Salyers and Bill Hall, along with Kamp Dovetail campers and volunteers take a boat ride on Rocky Fork Lake.

By 8:30 a.m. the summer storm had passed.

As the skies cleared on Wednesday, and the temperature and the humidity both raced towards 90, over 10 percent of the Countryside Rentals workforce was already in place to lend a hand for one of the largest summer camps for children with disabilities in the Great Lakes region.

KAMP (Kids And Motivated People) Dovetail is a volunteer run summer camp sponsored by Supplemental Assistance to The Handicapped (S. A. T. H.) a non-profit organization.

The camp is held at the Rocky Fork Lake State Park in Highland County, Ohio. Each child who visits the camp is teamed with their very own camp volunteer. None of the individuals at the camp are paid for their time.

Each and every person is there solely for the purpose of ensuring that the campers enjoy their week at camp. Almost all of the materials used during the week of camp (tents, food, plates, cups, medical supplies, t-shirts, etc.) are donated by area merchants or individuals.

This allows the organization to offer camping at virtually no cost to the campers or their families. Kamp Dovetail has been operating in this fashion for almost 30 years. In 2010 the camp will serve 350 children through the work of a total of over 900 volunteers.

The smiles of the campers were wide as they enjoyed boating, crafts, outdoor sports, and even horse-back riding. But the appreciation from the Kamp Dovetail staff was even bigger for the efforts of the more than 25 RENT-2-OWN employees, along with a few of their family members, who participated in assisting with each of the activities.

Some of those Countryside employees had traveled over 3 hours from their stores to arrive at the camp. Company owner and President, Mike Tissot, had also provided t-shirts for each of the campers, besides making a cash contribution.

He recalled, “My father, Darrell, has been volunteering at a 5 a.m. breakfast shift at this camp for decades. Over the years our company’s contribution to the camp has been in the tens of thousands of dollars. The best part is still our team members who take the time to get involved. I was so impressed that this year we had entire families participating.”