--- title: Camp Lee Mar: 60 Years of Summer Fun for Special Needs Children | TIME description: Photographer Gillian Laub visited Camp Lee Mar, a beloved summer destination in Pennsylvania for children with special needs, as it celebrates its 60th anniversary canonical: https://time.com/video/4ZfZUtEn/ og:title: Camp Lee Mar: 60 Years of Summer Fun for Special Needs Children og:description: Photographer Gillian Laub visited Camp Lee Mar, a beloved summer destination in Pennsylvania for children with special needs, as it celebrates its 60th anniversary og:url: https://time.com/video/4ZfZUtEn/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/4ZfZUtEn/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Camp Lee Mar: 60 Years of Summer Fun for Special Needs Children twitter:description: Photographer Gillian Laub visited Camp Lee Mar, a beloved summer destination in Pennsylvania for children with special needs, as it celebrates its 60th anniversary twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/4ZfZUtEn/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Camp Lee Mar: 60 Years of Summer Fun for Special Needs Children > Sponsored content. 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Photographer Gillian Laub visited Camp Lee Mar, a beloved summer destination in Pennsylvania for children with special needs, as it celebrates its 60th anniversary_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:27 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [First Take: Gillian Laub](/video/tTiJgHT3/) ### First Take: Gillian Laub [Four Generations by Gillian Laub](/video/13BuBqHh/) ### Four Generations by Gillian Laub [Lee Child on Summer Reading](/video/tq3JacXd/) ### Lee Child on Summer Reading --- ## Transcript [00:00] Okay, [00:02] one, [00:05] two, [00:08] three. [00:11] [ MUSIC ] Many [00:16] of our campers feel that this is a safe haven. There is [00:21] no rejection here. Take a risk, take a chance, make [00:25] a change, and break away. [00:31] An amazing thing is the creativity that comes out of [00:34] them. We have youngsters who will not talk [00:39] in front of a group of people, and yet will go on stage [00:42] and sing, and perform. [ SOUND ] [00:49] I'm Lee Morrone, Camp Lee Mar is my Shangri [00:53] La. A dream that I had in 1953. [01:00] It caters exclusively to children and young adults with [01:04] special needs. 3, 2, 1, go! My name is Annie. I'm 20 [01:07] years old. And this is my 5th year at Camp Lee Mar. So [01:09] cool! Especially, especially, I love going in [01:15] the pool! [01:22] The way we operated camp when we first opened, [01:27] we were using the same objectives and expectations [01:30] as today. No one here is allowed to use [01:34] the word can't. If they use, I go, [ COUGH ] what did [01:37] you say? Okay, alright. Let's go. It's your birthday. [01:38] Alright. [ LAUGH ] Congratulations, it's [01:43] your birthday. Okay? Thank you. Thank you [01:49] sweetheart. No pushing. Come on girls. Bev, your [01:53] picture is being taken right now. I came from a very, [01:57] very strict Italian family. You [02:02] learn to sit at the table, and speak when you were [02:07] spoken to, and I'm not interested in strictness [02:12] for our youngsters. Chew with your mouth closed, good [02:16] job Patrick. Good, you're trying. But that they have [02:20] introspection and understanding. For instance, [02:25] I don't have to tell my campers now, stop asking [02:29] for everything you want on visiting day. They know it's [02:33] one or two things, not 22 things. Because [02:38] we inculcate moderation and [02:42] appreciation for what they get and what they have. [02:47] That's what the love is all about. That they can feel that [02:52] someone loves them and cares for them and it gives [02:55] them a lot of security. You're all peppy this afternoon. [02:58] Well, I'm always peppy. Bless my staff. It's like, [03:03] we're in a, a different world. This is the Le Mar world. [03:08] It's only kindness, caring, and sharing. And [03:12] also we're also very optimistic. We always believe that [03:18] we have to take every, every kid out of the closet. [03:23] So many are really, still till this day, hidden and [03:28] sheltered, and we're opposed to that. [03:32] Our campers will outlive their parents. They [03:37] may not go to college, but we want them to give back [03:40] to society. We want them to get jobs. They have [03:42] academics. They have speech therapy. They have all [03:44] the things to give them what they need to survive in the [03:47] real world. Welcome to our Founder's Day, [03:51] August 5th, 2012! My name is Ari Segal, I'm the [03:54] director and the owner. In the summer of 94, I [03:58] purchased camp from Lee Marone and Lee and I have [04:00] been together the last 20 years. Ever [04:04] year they used to call it my birthday, and then I [04:08] felt well let's not get into the age level, [04:13] so we named it Founder's Day. [ MUSIC ] And [04:20] it just so happened that it also was my 60th year at [04:24] camp and my 85th birthday. Lee, as well [04:28] as myself, did not have a special need child, before we [04:30] started. But I was single when I got to camp. A couple [04:33] years into camp, I met my wife Abbey. We had our first [04:36] child Zachary, and Zachary was born with special [04:39] needs. He's globally delayed and he's a camper here. [04:42] My son, had a cerebral hemorrhage at three. And [04:47] was hemiplegic and uncontrolled epileptic. It's ironic. [04:51] You think you understand, but until you're a parent [04:53] yourself, you really don't understand what the parents [04:55] go through. [ SOUND ] I was [05:00] overwhelmed with emotion and joy. I was happy [05:04] to see all those happy faces. To be surrounded by [05:08] all the successes. The people that came from very, [05:12] very distance cities and states. [ SOUND ] Miguel is [05:16] our chef for fifteen years. Because they felt the camp [05:22] had an impact on their life. They drove him all the way [05:23] from Idaho to be here today. [ SOUND ] I'm [05:28] not one that takes compliments readily. I [05:34] feel that, what I'm doing is what I'm supposed [05:38] to be doing. My grandmother always said, I should [05:42] have been a missionary, and this is my [05:46] mission. Everybody works together [05:50] for the betterment of the children. And we are a big [05:52] family here, and I think everybody counts on each [05:54] other, and I think it's that the love they have for our [05:56] children makes a difference. Many of them are [05:58] majoring in something related to special needs, or they [06:01] have a family member with special needs, but there's [06:03] some connection with special needs. I think that they, [06:06] they care so much about our children. I think that's the [06:09] difference, and that's the vibe you get. The children [06:11] themselves are unbelievable, I don't think there's a [06:13] place that children go to like Lee Mar, where they feel [06:16] so comfortable. We want them to sample life, [06:21] and we want them to be able to go out and be part [06:26] of a community. And this is what I saw yesterday, [06:31] happiness, joy, appropriate social behavior, [06:36] dancing. That was absolutely, [06:41] deliriously happy for me. Sing. [06:48] [ MUSIC ] [06:52] My staff symbolizes Khalil Gibran's [06:57] philosophy about what the integrity of man [07:01] is, to raise each person to the dignity [07:07] and the image in which he was created. [ MUSIC ] [07:25] Together! 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