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Every year for Father’s Day, East Peoria firefighter Dan Davidson said he asks his wife and children for a very special gift. He asks that they allow him to go to camp.
His wife of 12 years, Tammy; daughter Shelby, 10; and son Spencer, 7, have obliged for the past six years.
Each of those six years, Davidson has attended Camp I Am Me, an Illinois Fire Safety Alliance burn camp in Volo, as a counselor.
He said it is much like a typical summer camp. However, campers at Camp I Am Me are burn survivors.
“The first four years the camp started on Father’s Day weekend, which was kind of a bummer,” Davidson said.
This year, camp was June 13-19. Davidson returned home the day before Fathers Day.
“I think it’s a great morale booster for the kids,” he said. “We all know how mean kids can be. It gives them a chance to relax and be themselves without other kids looking at them and without them feeling self-conscious about their scars.”
At Camp I Am Me, campers participate in activities, which include horseback riding, arts and crafts, boating, swimming and fishing.
“It’s no different than any other camp,” he said. “It just puts these kids in an environment where they’re more comfortable.”
This year, Davidson said there were three counselors and seven boys in his air-conditioned cabin.
“The cabins are air conditioned because it’s hard for the kids to cool down because many of them have skin grafts and skin grafts don’t sweat,” Davidson said.
Each year, the International Association of Firefighters Burn Foundation selects a young burn survivor and a professional firefighter/camp counselor from regional burn camps across the United States and Canada.
Davidson was selected along with 15-year-old camper, LaVonte Rayford, to attend this year’s IAFF Burn Foundation’s International Burn Camp in Washington, D.C. The week-long program runs from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1.
“We’ll see a lot of the Washington, D.C., area,” he said. “I hear they keep you busy from 6 in the morning until 11 p.m.”
The trip includes tours of national monuments, memorials and museums and activities with local firefighters.
“They keep you going,” he said. “I’m really excited for it.”
Davidson has been an East Peoria firefighter for 11 years. Before that, he spent six and a half years as a Pekin firefighter and five years as a Navy firefighter. He was born and raised in Pekin and currently lives in East Peoria.
He said he looks forward to the week in the outdoors each year and the chance to see the campers.
“This is the year it really hit me,” he said. “After six years, they have all grown up.”
For more information about the international burn camp, visit burn.iaff.org/burncamp.shml.
Every year for Father’s Day, East Peoria firefighter Dan Davidson said he asks his wife and children for a very special gift. He asks that they allow him to go to camp.
His wife of 12 years, Tammy; daughter Shelby, 10; and son Spencer, 7, have obliged for the past six years.
Each of those six years, Davidson has attended Camp I Am Me, an Illinois Fire Safety Alliance burn camp in Volo, as a counselor.
He said it is much like a typical summer camp. However, campers at Camp I Am Me are burn survivors.
“The first four years the camp started on Father’s Day weekend, which was kind of a bummer,” Davidson said.
This year, camp was June 13-19. Davidson returned home the day before Fathers Day.
“I think it’s a great morale booster for the kids,” he said. “We all know how mean kids can be. It gives them a chance to relax and be themselves without other kids looking at them and without them feeling self-conscious about their scars.”
At Camp I Am Me, campers participate in activities, which include horseback riding, arts and crafts, boating, swimming and fishing.
“It’s no different than any other camp,” he said. “It just puts these kids in an environment where they’re more comfortable.”
This year, Davidson said there were three counselors and seven boys in his air-conditioned cabin.
“The cabins are air conditioned because it’s hard for the kids to cool down because many of them have skin grafts and skin grafts don’t sweat,” Davidson said.
Each year, the International Association of Firefighters Burn Foundation selects a young burn survivor and a professional firefighter/camp counselor from regional burn camps across the United States and Canada.
Davidson was selected along with 15-year-old camper, LaVonte Rayford, to attend this year’s IAFF Burn Foundation’s International Burn Camp in Washington, D.C. The week-long program runs from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1.
“We’ll see a lot of the Washington, D.C., area,” he said. “I hear they keep you busy from 6 in the morning until 11 p.m.”
The trip includes tours of national monuments, memorials and museums and activities with local firefighters.
“They keep you going,” he said. “I’m really excited for it.”
Davidson has been an East Peoria firefighter for 11 years. Before that, he spent six and a half years as a Pekin firefighter and five years as a Navy firefighter. He was born and raised in Pekin and currently lives in East Peoria.
He said he looks forward to the week in the outdoors each year and the chance to see the campers.
“This is the year it really hit me,” he said. “After six years, they have all grown up.”
For more information about the international burn camp, visit burn.iaff.org/burncamp.shml.
