RINCON, Ga. - BTFD volunteers helped children with muscular dystrophy play 'power soccer,' swim.
Why would a firefighter spend a week of his vacation at a Muscular Dystrophy Association summer camp helping kids who aren't his own?
"I'd like to ask that question back: Why not?" That's how Bluffton Township Fire District firefighter Derek Franks put it Monday, after spending last week with dozens of "Jerry's Kids" at a camp just across the Savannah River in Rincon, Ga.
The camp was funded in part by Jerry Lewis' famous MDA Telethon and local firefighters' Fill-the-Boot campaign.
"After you've been with them one time, you get to know these kids, know what they're all about," Franks said.
"You really get to know how rough their life is. To spend a week of our lives with them, it puts you back in reality. I'll spend a week of my vacation there anytime."
Nobody said they had to. No fire chief twisted their arms. Franks and fellow firefighters Matthew Henne, Richard Dollahan and Emerson Kovalanchik just decided it was something they wanted to do, on their own time.
It was Henne's first time. The other three have been "camping" with the kids - they stay the night, each night - for years.
"It's great, but it's a lot of work, very mentally and physically challenging," Franks said. "Our goal is to make the kids feel as normal as possible, to live a normal kid's life, doing stuff like turning soccer into 'power soccer,' when you have a really big ball so kids can hit it with their wheelchairs instead of kicking it."
They swam. They had water fights. Hilton Head Island's Van Der Meer Tennis representatives brought rackets and helped the campers play.
"I enjoyed most seeing the kids really smile, laugh, tell jokes about each other," Henne said. "That just makes you giggle inside."
The firefighters were assigned one camper apiece; Henne said he had a new camper, so they both learned the camp's ropes together. He said they were both pleasantly surprised when a bunch of Harley-Davidson riders showed up on Monday with a present for the campers - an invitation to sit on their bikes and rev the engines.
"I think my camper started about every single one," Henne said, laughing.
Harley-Davidson and the International Association of Firefighters are two of the MDA's biggest sponsors, Franks said. There is no cost for children with muscular dystrophy to attend the camp.
