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Camp Continues Service to At-Risk Youth

Children fish at Creek Run Day Camp Photo by: Project HEAL

For campers and counselors at Creek Run Day Camp, the level of excitement was high on the last day of camp this August. Many were happy for the opportunity to return the following summer, thanks to the conservation work of the Trust for Public Land.

Instead of shutting up the buildings and selling the 37-acre property, Creek Run will get a new lease on life. The new owners, Keara Giannotti and Tami Grovatt, will run the day camp for nearly 300 children each summer along with a new nonprofit organization, Project HEAL.

The name -- Human, Environmental and Animal Links -- embodies the mission of enriching the lives of children through experiences that provide meaningful interactions with the environment. Specifically, Project HEAL will add services and programs during the year such as animal-assisted therapy, horticulture therapy, and equestrian-assisted psychotherapy with mental health professionals--all for "at risk" kids.

In addition to the camp resources and the flora and fauna at home on the densely wooded portion of the property, the arrangement also protects water quality and provides recreational opportunities. A stream flowing through the heart of the property is part of the headwaters of Rancocas Creek, a focus of Burlington County's Open Space Program. Preservation also offers the ability to extend Evesham Township's greenway efforts along Barton's Run and provides a buffer to the suburban edge to the west. A loop trail will be open to the public for hiking, biking and nature study.

The property was purchased using funds from the New Jersey DEP Green Acres Program, Burlington County, and funds raised by TPL from the William Penn Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. A conservation easement will ensure the land will be retained in a natural, scenic and open condition and used for recreation and conser-vation purposes.

The project is part of the Trust for Public Land's River to Bay Greenway initiative, a multi-use open space and recreational greenway to span 70 miles across southern New Jersey to link the Delaware River and the Barnegat Bay.

For more information, visit "River to Bay Greenway" on the New Jersey page at www.tpl.org.