have more spaces for more kids.” At Camp Fantastic,

have more spaces for more kids.”

At Camp Fantastic, the 4-H’ers gain “a totally illuminating perspective of what life is all about,” Mr. Dooley said. “They learn that life is fragile. They learn that life is not always fair, but that problems need to be put in perspective. They learn the importance of caring. They see that the world in which we life is very superficial, and they realize that the support system we provide for one another is the most important thing we have.

Mr. Dooley has watched 4-H’ers from Camp Fantastic abandon plans to major in business administration and instead study medicine, drop drama school for rehabilitative recreation, and switch from computers to counseling. “Almost every one of the kids who have been involved in the Camp Fantastic program has changed vocations. They’ve changed career objectives. They’ve changed their philosophy of life and their relationships with their parents and their peers,” added the 4-H Center’s director.

Mr. Dooley has 4-H’ers also serving as counselors for the center’s summer programs for senior citizens. It was a small beginning: just a weekend for campers aged 60 and older. “We did the same thing that kids do in camp - canoeing, horseback riding, closes on creek critters. But the counselors and instructors were 14 and 15-year-old kids. We really broke down the generation gap! The kids expected the seniors to be slow and senile; the seniors expected the kids to be brash and uncaring. And after a weekend both groups left with totally different opinions,” Mr. Dooley recalledThe

4-H Center now holds a Christmas Camp for seniors who don’t have families with which to share the holiday. “It’s a Christmas memory the 4-H kids will never forget,” he said. “We.give, and we give. Through classes, through discussion, through special meals. We decorate a tree, we sing carols, we laugh, we cry, and we share sto