CHAMP Camp Builds Wheelchair Accessible Zip Line at Bradford Woods

INDIANAPOLIS, IN, April 08, 2014 (Press-News.org) CHAMP Camp, a nonprofit benefiting children and adolescents ages 6-18 with tracheostomies and those who require other forms of respiratory assistance, was recently awarded the Finish Line Youth Foundation Legacy Grant of $75,000. FLYF grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations that provide community-based access to athletics or camps that provide resources for disabled and disadvantaged youth. The grant is being utilized to build a universally accessible zip line at Bradford Woods in Martinsville, Ind., where CHAMP Camp takes place each June.

Phase one of the zip line project--a 150-foot zip line complete with a launch tower and landing platform--was completed in the summer of 2013 from assets acquired through CHAMP Camp's fundraising efforts. The FLYF Legacy Grant has funded phase two of the unique four-phase project, which includes a 375-foot zip line and wheelchair accessible trail system that will be ready for campers to enjoy in June 2014. The final two phases include a wheelchair-accessible ramp and treehouse--two features that CHAMP Camp sees as the most exciting of the project, as they will give kids with special needs and those who are confined to wheelchairs an opportunity to independently explore the outdoors. The completion dates of both phase three and phase four will be dependent on continued fundraising efforts and corporate and community support.

For one week each summer, CHAMP Camp provides an overnight camping experience for nearly 30 kids who enjoy and participate in outdoor activities despite any physical challenges and limitations they may have. Though CHAMP Camp will only utilize the zip lines one week per year, Bradford Woods is host to several programs and youth therapeutic camps--including Camp Riley, HEAR Indiana, Easter Seals and Camp Little Red Door--which will also have the opportunity to enjoy these new features. Bradford Woods is an enterprise of Indiana University and its School of Public Health, and seeks to promote and further IU's mission through the many programs Bradford Woods provides.