Little Moments, Lifetime Memories at Camp Kindness

This summer, 33 campers made many lifetime memories with the animals who call Catskill Animal Sanctuary home. One of our campers, Addison, found some of his special moments with a pot-bellied pig named Shy Girl who lives up to her name and will not allow people to get too close. She and her mom endured life for nine years outside without any shelter before coming to live at CAS. Shy Girl’s mom has passed away and now Shy Girl roams as she pleases during the day. Addison chose Shy Girl as his adopted animal for the week and learned that with gentleness and patience he could get close to her. Each day he would silently sit with her or speak in soft whispers as they inched closer to one another. And then that magical moment happened when respect, patience and compassion from a human defeats the fearful memories. Shy Girl let Addison touch her! Besides moments like this for Addison and Shy Girl, each day the campers learned about a different farmed animal species and their plight. They loved making vegan tacos, smoothies and pizza to enjoy!  And at the end of the day, they went home with new knowledge, memories and various crafts that they created including handmade photo albums, memory boxes, and organic cotton t-shirts they designed. To get a taste of Camp Kindness 2014, watch our video! What did the campers think of Camp Kindness? We’ll let them speak for themselves! “Camp Kindness- too awesome to be improved.” “I didn’t think I would like the food but I actually did!” “Make camp bigger and with even more animals!” “I want to come back next year and bring my best friend, she would love it here!” “I learned how important it is to care about animals and our world.” “I love, love, love Camp Kindness.” “I learned that it’s so much better to be vegan than vegetarian, I am definitely becoming vegan.”