Chattanooga Has Fun 2.5

The Southside Chamber of Commerce Council hosts the “Sunshine Kid’s Luncheon” on Wednesday, July 7th, at Bessie Smith Cultural Center, beginning at 11:30am. This luncheon benefits the Downtown YMCA’s Sunshine Kid’s Project, a program that provides Summer Day Camp for children with special needs, as well as swimming lessons for children of all abilities.

The “Sunshine Kids” have a swim program designed to bring parents and children together in a safe, fun and controlled environment. Each year the YMCA will provide swimming lessons for 320 special needs children and their parents. Parents are included in the swim program so they can learn how to share a safe and fun water experience with their child.

The “Sunshine Kids Project” is a summer day-camp program for children with special needs. The camp serves 50 special needs children who have the opportunity to participate in camp activities with kids of all abilities. A child with special needs in this program may have been diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, blindness, mental retardation or Autism. These are only a few of the types of the special needs that “Camp Sunshine” counselors are specifically trained to deal with. The YMCA and UTC work together to select counselors for this day-camp, and Siskin children’s Institute provides training.

In order to provide such a well-developed program for these special children, it costs approximately $1,500 per child each summer. This year our keynote speaker is Dane Bradshaw, former basketball player for Bruce Pearl and the UT Volunteers.

To Make a Donation or Attend Contact: Constance Ruff (423) 756-2819 or cruff@scsga.com