{"id":22016,"date":"2020-01-31T17:14:57","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T22:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.customink.com\/?p=22016"},"modified":"2020-01-31T17:16:09","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T22:16:09","slug":"camp-willow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customink.com\/blog\/camp-willow\/","title":{"rendered":"Camp Willow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Willow trees are known for many things\u2014flexibility, stability, and growth, to name a few. Rooted in these qualities, Camp Willow<\/a> lives up to its namesake as an organization that provides positive opportunities for children with mental, physical, and developmental disabilities. By offering the ability to explore the world through art, theater, and nature, Camp Willow cultivates a unique experience that children with disabilities are not normally able to enjoy.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bw9nqVgJBHZ\/<\/p>\n

Founder Sydney Watson is familiar with the challenges that children with disabilities face. Sydney has an educational background in psychology and mental health counseling, with experience as a behavior therapist for children with autism. Through this involvement, Sydney realized a need for a space dedicated to kids with disabilities to interact with the world in a positive, safe environment. Sydney describes Camp Willow as emerging \u201cout of a pursuit to inspire and support the community’s children and families and a desire for actions to speak louder than words. It is an organization driven by progressive ideas, bold actions, and a strong foundation of support.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of its mission to engage children with disabilities through art and nature, the camp offers art therapy, theatre therapy, and horse therapy. With horse therapy, children directly interact with horses in a controlled environment to build confidence in themselves and to spark an interest in animals. Through art therapy, children are given guidance to work creatively and to share their work and collaborate with others. Theatre therapy allows children to express themselves through acting, writing, and theatre production. Each of these areas of focus offers different positive experiences and lessons for the campers to grow and flourish.<\/p>\n

The positive impact nature and art exposure has on children is priceless, yet camps that provide these experiences are usually an expensive commitment. Since its start in 2018, Camp Willow has been able to offer these experiences for free. When Sydney created Camp Willow in her hometown of Norfolk, Nebraska, it was able to take root through an outpouring of support from individuals, groups, and organizations. \u201cI did not expect so many people to be as supportive in our beginning stages. It truly shows how much people care and are willing to give back to deserving children and families,\u201d says Sydney. \u201cCamp Willow will only keep growing and positively impacting more lives with continued support.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a non-profit, Camp Willow runs on donations\u2014and with a need for donations, having solid fundraisers is a must. With Camp Willow receiving support locally, it made sense to branch out through the internet and connect with people across the country with a Custom Ink Fundraiser<\/a>. \u201cOne of our board members used to work for Custom Ink and spoke very highly of the company, and we knew we wanted to work with such an incredible and sought after team,\u201d Sydney says. \u201cCustom Ink also made it so convenient for us to work with them in setting up the fundraiser exactly how we wished and taking the lead for us afterwards, which made the fundraiser so smooth and easy on our end! Whenever we had questions or needed assistance, a team member would help us out with such positivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Hoodie<\/a>

One of the cozy Camp Willow hoodies<\/p><\/div>\n

With Custom Ink Fundraising providing a platform to raise money, awareness, and custom shirts for Camp Willow\u2019s community, the only thing Camp Willow needed to worry about was coming up with a design for their apparel. Fortunately, they have artist Tara Tuls amongst their supporters who works as Camp Willow\u2019s graphic designer. The logo\u2019s look and feel reflects the authenticity of Camp Willow, and the quality of the t-shirts and hoodies selected for the print drew positive feedback from the supporters. Choosing to print on items like the Bella + Canvas Ultra Soft Drop Shoulder Pullover Hoodie<\/a> and the Next Level 60\/40 T-shirt<\/a> proved to be a good decision! \u201cSo many people have raged about how comfortable our items are! I am so happy with the brands we went with and for picking quality products,\u201d mentions Sydney.<\/p>\n

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Try these tips to start
\nyour own t-shirt fundraiser<\/div>\n
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  1. \n
    Pick a great cause and a name.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n
    Choose a quality product to champion your cause<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n
    Create your design.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n
    Set up the fundraiser.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n
    Tell everyone you know.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n