My Camper has Special Needs

Food Allergies

Please be sure to list any food allergies on your camper's registration with details of allergic reaction.
At check-in, we will talk with the camper about their particular needs and make arrangements with our Food Service Director.

Due to a limited staff, we are unable to offer a gluten-free menu along with our regular menu. However, we will gladly work with you to help provide for your child's nutritional needs.
Several of our meals will easily accommodate gluten allergies by simply making the right food choices from the options available.
Substitute options are available in our fruit bar at every lunch and our full salad bar at every supper meal. WE OFFER GLUTEN-FREE CHEX CEREAL IN OUR CEREAL BAR AT EVERY BREAKFAST.
Please contact the camp manager to discuss any special arrangements required to provide for the nutritional needs of your camper. All arrangements will be approved and implemented by our Food Service Director.
Our Food Service Director can email you a tentative menu ahead of time for your preparation as well.

Please be sure that your camper brings all their diabetic supplies in a small bag/backpack to camp.
Please call the camp manager to discuss the specific needs of your child. While we make every effort for your child to attend camp, we have a limited number of staff and need to assess beforehand whether or not we can provide the level of care your child needs.
You can send extra snacks along with your camper to help maintain blood sugar levels between meals. Please send these in a small container that can seal. We will make arrangements with your camper for easy access to their snacks.
We can accommodate a limited number of small juice drinks in our nurse's station refrigerator. Please make prior arrangements for this with our camp manager and medical personnel.
If your camper needs Insulin injections, our medical personnel will make arrangements for your camper to take care of these needs in the privacy of our nurse's station. We have a sharps container there where they can safely dispose of their needles.

We will handle any bed-wetting incidents with care and discretion. Please encourage your camper to tell their cabin leader if they have an accident. The staff will wash their bedding and return it to their bunk discretely.
Several of our bunk mattresses have blue waterproof/antibacterial covers. Please encourage your camper to find a bunk with one of these mattresses as it will aid in quicker, more sanitary cleanup.

If your camper needs a PCA to attend camp, please contact the camp manager to discuss options.
All adult leaders are required to go through our faculty application and screening process before they are permitted to work with our campers. Any PCA would need to make faculty application and be cleared through our screening process to be at camp as well.
Please be sure to contact the camp with plenty of time to process background checks and endorsements.

We have a handicap accessible bathroom with a shower in our bathhouse facility.
While the terrain at camp is rugged, we do have an asphalt pathway that connects our Dining Hall, Bathhouse, and Chapel. The Chapel and Lodge have doors with ramps for easier access. We can arrange for a ramp for ease of access to our Dining Hall and cabins as well.
Please call the camp manager to discuss specific needs and arrangements.

Our faculty and staff are loving and caring people. Your camper will find the leaders at Pine Haven to be supportive and encouraging.
Please call the camp manager to discuss your camper's specific needs and we will be sure the appropriate leaders are aware and ready to care for your child.

We work very hard, especially in our younger weeks, to keep the campers involved and active in the camp program. When campers are engaged, they tend to have less homesickness.
On the occasion that a camper is experiencing homesickness, we comfort and reassure while making every effort to get them engaged and involved to divert their focus.
Having the camper call home is our last resort as this typically escalates the emotions instead of calming the child. If we are unable to help the camper work through their homesickness, we will call the camper's parents to discuss how we proceed.

Please be sure to include any concerns in your camper's registration information. The more details we have regarding your camper's needs, the better equipped we are to help your camper have a great week of camp.
If your camper has an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) at school in light of behavioral concerns, please let us know of that and include any information from that which would help us lead your camper and help them succeed throughout the week.
Being away from home, changing schedule, participating in all the activities, and staying in a cabin with several other campers can be overwhelming to a camper, adding to their difficulty in dealing with behavior. Please be sure to talk through a plan to handle the different atmosphere and schedule in light of their needs. Any information you can pass along regarding these tips will be helpful to the camp leaders as well.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please call the camp manager to discuss them before your camper arrives.

Tay Odor can be reached via email or phone:
tay@pinehavencamp.org
218-732-9419 (May 1 - Sept 30)
218-366-1391 (Oct 1 - April 30)