Dear Hands to Love Community,
Hands to Love will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Hand Camp on the weekend of April 3-5, 2020 at a new venue. As you may know, Hand Camp is a weekend retreat that supports children with upper limb differences and their families. What began in 2001 as a quaint retreat at Camp Crystal Lake has evolved into a unique phenomena, a force for good that seems to touch everyone who participates, including the children with limb differences, their siblings, parents, and the tireless volunteer corps that make these weekend events possible.
Our inaugural Hand Camp was attended by 17 families with upper limb different children cared for here at the University of Florida. Last year’s Hand Camp found us bursting at the seams with a record 85 families. In order to serve the increasing numbers of families finding their way to Hands to Love’s camp weekend, we determined the need for a larger venue. After much research, we secured Keystone Camp and Conference Center in Keystone Heights, Florida. This new venue will enable us to accommodate more families, offer our camper’s opportunities to try new activities, as well as, host a combined Hand Camp and Teen Camp event for our 20th Anniversary Celebration!
Registration for Hand Camp and Teen Camp will open December 15, 2019 via the Hands to Love website. We have high hopes that our new registration platform will make the process of registration easier for our families and volunteers alike. Following our usual schedule camp will begin on Friday April 3rd through Sunday, April 5th. Please note the date change of camp from the third weekend to the first weekend of April.
Finally, as we began preparations for the 20th annual hand camp in 2020 a theme has emerged… Hand Camp: Back to Our Future! We are thrilled to celebrate our past 20 years of Hand Camp and sincerely hope that you will join us in creating Hands to Love’s 2020 vision for the future!
Sincerely,
Dr. Paul and Ruthie Dell
Founders of Hands to Love
