Danny Tabares, Wings of Friendship Counselor Ambassador – Courtesy The Friendship Journey
By Jill Fox
In a virtual fundraising event, The Friendship Journey celebrated their camp family on Saturday in the hopes of continuing to lead their programming at no cost.
Since Covid-19 precautions began, the organization, which unites people of all abilities through lasting friendships, has led 23 weeks of scheduled activities, 161 days of connection, and over 200 hours of love and friendship.
Samantha Novick, president of the nonprofit organization, said they quickly discovered the accessible opportunities that the virtual world made possible.
In October, Novick was honored with WPLG’s LifeChanger Award after creating Camp Wings of Friendship, a free virtual summer camp for teens and adults with disabilities.
Due to Covid-19, The Friendship Journey could not hold their annual in-person gala, so they presented a Camp Wings of Friendship Showcase from the comfort of viewers’ own homes and raised over $15,000.
Novick said the showcase was the community’s opportunity to be part of their special camp family while supporting the nonprofit organizations that made the experiences possible.
“It tells the story of how our Sandy Hook and Parkland communities came together to create the camp,” said Novick.
For the summer camp, The Friendship Journey partnered with Dylan’s Wings of Change in Connecticut, a nonprofit named for Dylan, a six-year-old victim in the Sandy Hook Massacre.
Novick said the showcase was beautiful and encompassed what Wings of Friendship is all about.
“It’s 45 minutes of love,” she said.
The showcase is available to view here, and donations are always accepted at FriendshipJourney.org.
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