Masons boost Castine summer camp for 9-11 victims’ children

CASTINE – A summer camp for children of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center got a big boost on Monday from a local group of Masons.

Members of Hancock Lodge No. 4 presented a check for $6,000 to Camp M.E.N.Y Hearts, bringing the camp closer to its fund-raising goal.

The gift will sponsor at least 20 children from the New York City area, all of whom were affected in some way by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

The camp will be held on the Maine Maritime Academy campus in Castine from July 13-20.

The Masons said they hoped their donation would attract attention both to their organization and to the camp effort, which they said was a worthy cause.

“Our purpose for being is to help people,” Mason Charles Ulrich said. “They seemed like people who needed some help.”

The gift from the Masons brings the fund-raising effort two thirds of the way to the $30,000 goal. That amount will bring 50 kids from New York City and the surrounding area to Castine for a week, according to Caroline Brouillard, who, with a group of area friends, has organized the camp.

“We’d like to bring 100 kids, but that will depend on how the fund raising goes,” she said.

There will be no charge to the youngsters attending the camp.

The idea for the camp grew out of the tragedy. The link between Castine and New York City was established when Brouillard, her husband, Gary Brouillard, and their daughter donated funds to the widow of an elevator operator who died in the collapse of the towers.

The donation came from a tradition at the family business, Dennett’s Wharf restaurant, in which customers attached dollar bills to the restaurant ceiling.

The funds, which totaled more than $12,000, went to Robin Audifred, who has since been to Maine to visit and also has been involved in the effort to develop the camp.

Although promoted as a bereavement camp that will use the arts to help children heal, Brouillard said Monday that the camp will not deal formally with the events of Sept. 11.

“We’re not going to talk about Sept. 11 at all,” she said. “The kids already know they’re victims. The idea is to give them a break.”

She has been cautioned, however, to expect issues to arise during the week, and, Brouillard said, there will be people with experience dealing with bereavement issues on hand during the week long camp.

Brouillard has been working with several agencies in New York City in an effort to identify middle-school youngsters who have some connection to Sept. 11 to attend the camp. It’s not just kids who have lost a parent or a relative, she said.

“A lot of people lost jobs,” she said. “They’re having a really hard time.”

According to Brouillard, there are not a lot of activities set up for kids to go to in the city.

Most of the fund raising for the camp has come through word-of-mouth, she said, although there have been some formal fund-raising events. But as the date of the camp gets closer, she said, organizers may seek larger gifts such as the one they received Monday from the Masons.

Anyone who wants to make a donation can write to Camp M.E.N.Y. Hearts, P.O. Box 426, Castine 04421.