Media are welcome to cover Camp Munroe. This year, visiting performers will be making weekly visits to the camp, and these visits should provide excellent media coverage opportunities. Here’s the schedule of visiting performers:
July 14: Omaha Street Percussion will perform from 1-1:45 p.m.
July 20: Heartland Hoedowners will perform from 1-2:30 p.m.
July 27: Wildlife Encounters will display animals from 1-1:45 p.m.
Aug. 3: Dearheart & Friends (clowns) will perform from 1-2:30 p.m.
Visual opportunities: Camp events include swimming, playground, art, cooking, visiting performers and other visual opportunities.
NOTE: Due to HIPAA restrictions, some campers cannot be photographed, videotaped or interviewed; staff will be on hand to help identify interview and image subjects.
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Approximately 200 campers and more than 200 volunteers are taking part in the Munroe-Meyer Institute's Camp Munroe this summer as the camp celebrates its 34th year. The Munroe-Meyer Institute is part of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.,
Camp Munroe, which runs for six weeks, is a recreational day camp program for children and youth, ages 2 1/2 through 21, with developmental disabilities including autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, spina bifida and/or genetic disorders.
"We're off to a great year," said camp director Kelley Coutts. "We're really excited. We have a lot of new people who joined us this summer, not only people from Omaha but people from other areas in Nebraska and also some people from out of state who are coming to camp this summer. So it's really neat that we can provide services for kids all around.
"Our volunteer force has grown bigger this year," she said. "We have new volunteers who hopefully we're going to teach to become wonderful advocates as they get older and be able to provide great advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities."
Liam Bruckner, who has been coming to camp for seven years, said he is enjoying camp this year, especially swimming.
"They have really cool friends here," he said.
The camp brings in performers once a week during the six-week session, and the shows are always a hit with campers. Last week, campers and volunteers were treated to a performance by the Basement Dance Studio of Elkhorn.
"We want to be able to provide everybody who comes to camp an opportunity to see what's really out there in the community," Coutts said.
Munroe-Meyer Institute is committed to unlocking the potential of children and adults with developmental disabilities and genetic disorders through exceptional patient care, education and research. MMI health care providers annually diagnose and treat more than 10,000 children and adults with special needs.
We are Nebraska Medicine and UNMC. Our mission is to lead the world in transforming lives to create a healthy future for all individuals and communities through premier educational programs, innovative research and extraordinary patient care.