The Pennsylvania Lions Beacon Lodge Camp is a beautiful five hundred and eighty-three acre summer camp for children and adults with special needs including blindness, deafness, and many other physical and mental challenges. It is nestled in the natural woodlands along the Juniata River of Central Pennsylvania just two miles west of Newton Hamilton, near Mount Union. Beacon Lodge was established in 1948 as a summer camp for blind residents of Pennsylvania. It has grown into a favorite retreat for many people with disabilities as well as a conference center for special groups, an educational facility for families, a rental camp for group retreats, and more. The goals of the camp were and are to present a well-rounded program adaptable to all campers and others, regardless of age, race, creed or color.
A special program at Beacon Lodge has been designed, taking into consideration the individual needs and abilities of each camper. We have many group and individual activities, all geared toward fun with an educational theme. Our most important goal in everything we do is to motivate each person to focus on what they can do, not what they can’t.
The mission of the Pennsylvania Lions Beacon Lodge Camp is to provide all individuals with special needs, the opportunity to enjoy a camping experience encompassing recreational, educational, and personal adjustment. Special emphasis is placed on stimulating interests and appreciation for recreation and learning, and to encourage attempting new challenges. The camp also serves as a reference center for Pennsylvania Residents for support services in their local area.
Beacon Lodge Camp shall pursue its mission:
- By providing opportunities for understanding and appreciation through an awareness of natural surroundings.
- By encouraging the camper to participate in and share the responsibilities of a democratic society.
- By helping the camper realize that he/she has significant place in the social pattern.
- By fostering in him/her the desire to participate in ALL camp activities.
- By developing in him/her a sense of responsibility and respect for others.
- By enabling the camper to learn accepted ways of competing and cooperating with others.
- By stimulating in each camper greater self-reliance, resourcefulness and initiative.
- By helping the camper learn new skills and to explore his/her own capabilities.
- By aiding the camper on the road to self realization, self fulfillment, and personal identity.
Learn more, here.