At camp, teenagers overcome challenges

Asbury Park, New Jersey, Press
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080907/NEWS02/809070375/1070

SEASIDE PARK—Basking in the afternoon sunlight, Stephanie Harris and Briana Taylor munched on hamburgers and giggled.

Though they are your everyday teens in most ways, they had to learn to overcome obstacles and achieve extraordinary things, and did so in part due to the summer program Team Randy.

Harris, 16, of Lacey, has spina bifida, and Taylor, 16, of Barnegat, has cerebral palsy. By taking part in the program for physically- or learning-disabled teens, or teens from low-income families, they were able to have an array of summer fun that otherwise might not have been available to them, such as trips to New York City, beach days and pool parties.

The teens from Team Randy met in Seaside Park on Friday for a beach party and barbecue sponsored by the Kiwanis Toms River Daybreak club.

“I love it. There’s so much to do every day,” said Harris, who enjoyed the overnight trips to Lancaster and Gettysburg, Pa., the most.

“It’s one of the best experiences I’ve ever had,” agreed Taylor. “We’re like a big family.”

Team Randy started in the mid-1980s, when Toms River residents Ray and Shelley Lynnworth asked their friend Bill Wilbert to watch their son, Randy, and his friends for the summer. Randy used a wheelchair after having a brain tumor removed.

Observing the success of the program, the Lynnworths and Wilbert expanded it, and it has grown to about 20 members now. Randy Lynnworth, 18, died in 1987 from a brain tumor.

“Right from the beginning, we always did things to open everyone’s eyes,” Ray Lynnworth, 65, of Toms River said, explaining how the campers would tube down the Delaware River, windsurf and even rock climb. “It tells them that there’s a way to do it. There’s nothing we’ve ever done that everyone in the group couldn’t do in some way.”

Lynnworth said everybody in life has some type of challenge, and the important thing is how individuals meet them.

"We’ve had a lot of success stories. We even have some kids (in the program now) whose parents were in it,” he said. “By the end of the first day in the program, you see dramatic changes (in the teens). All of a sudden, you have a purpose.”

Wilbert, the summer camp director of Team Randy, said the children were excited on the bus ride to the beach, as they were escorted by three motorcycles and two police vehicles from the Toms River Police Department.

“One kid said, “I feel like I’m the president,’ ” he said, grinning. “The kids in the program all work together and they’ve created great friendships throughout the summer. We try to stress taking a bit of Team Randy with them (when they go back to school).”

John Hale, past president of the Kiwanis Toms River Daybreak, said the Team Randy beach party was started three years ago during his club presidency.

“Our original connection to Team Randy was personal,” Hale said, explaining how a neighbor’s son was physically challenged and became a camper in the Team Randy summer camp. “That was the catalyst behind learning about and lending our support to Team Randy. Our club felt such an immediate connection with them.”

Hale said the idea of a beach party evolved since the Kiwanis Daybreak members have a strong link to the beach and surfing, because several members are part of the local Sand Town Surf Team. “Team Randy members are a close-knit group of kids. They get along really well and support each other,” he said, “It’s really like a family.”

In addition to the annual beach party and bonfire, Hale said the Kiwanis club also sponsored youths to attend the camp and helped to underwrite the cost of certain outings.

“We’re a really vital club and do a lot of hands-on work in the community, especially to help kids,” he said.