Forty-five minutes north of downtown Toronto lies 300 acres of rolling terrain where persons with intellectual disability can hold camp throughout the summer. The place is called Shadow Lake Centre, at the Oak Ridges Moraine and is owned and operated by Community Living Toronto.
Recent reports said that a fund had been set up to make the camp more wheelchair accessible. The camp aims to raise $600,000 to help send 25,000 disadvantaged and special needs children to Shadow Lake “to give them a break in life,” and give them “memories to last a lifetime,” the same reports stated.
Camp guests are as young as 7. Sessions are 1-week long, from Sunday morning until Saturday afternoon. Programs include swimming, boating, fishing, crafts, music, hiking and sports and indoor groups. There are campfires, dances, movie nights and drama after dinner, information from the Camp website said.
Staff to guest ratio is 3:1, and a limited number of beds available for guests who require 1:1 staffing.
Available camping dates are July 4- 10; July 11- 17; July 18- 24; July 25 – 31; Aug. 1- 7; and Aug. 8- 14.
