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Kind Camp Turns Ten

Kind Camp started in 2016 on a simple idea: kindness is not something you tell a child about; it is something you give them room to practice.

So, the camp is built around practice. Campers are not handed a lecture about inclusion; they are handed a buddy. They are not told that service matters; they are handed a project and a person to give it to. Every day they are given a reason to think about somebody other than themselves, and then they are given the chance to act on it while a room full of people cheers them on.

Week one went to Clearwater, July 20 through 24, at Autism Inspired Academy. Week two came to Tampa, July 27 through 31, at Lake Magdalene Church. Two weeks, two counties, two buildings full of children who spent five days straight learning how to be good to each other and develop social and life skills.

Watch the 2026 Kind Camp Recap

Before you read another word, press play. Three minutes, both weeks, all the dancing, the games, the tea party, and the buddies. Somewhere is your camper, grinning.

What Kind Camp Is For

The goal is not a good week. The goal is to have a child who leaves camp knowing they have something to offer, and keeps offering it in September, long after camp is done and the year after that.

That is also why the Hessel Family Foundation backs it. Our foundation exists to support children with autism and their families, veterans, and families walking through pediatric illness, and it looks for programs where those families are not accommodated at the edges but built into the middle. Kind Camp is one of the few places where a child with a developmental disability and a child without one can spend a full week as equals, and both walk out changed.

How Kind Camp Works

Every camper is a Little Buddy, and every Little Buddy gets a Big Buddy, a high school or college student who sticks with them all week. Children with special needs, whether they’re on the spectrum, have a learning disability, or illness, and children without them are paired up on purpose, and by Wednesday nobody remembers which is which.

No phones. Not for campers. Not for Big Buddies. Not for staff. Five days, no screens. It is the best rule we have.

Each day gets a theme instead of a schedule. Patriotism. Inclusion. Manners. The campers get an idea in the morning and something real to do with it by the afternoon. In between there are relay races with plastic cups, dance parties under blue lights, and a whole lot of somebody calling out, “back in your circles, please.”

The Fire Truck, the Wreaths and the Tea Party

On Patriotism Day, the campers tackled red, white, and blue bandana wreaths; which is a craft much trickier than it looks. Their hard work paid off when Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Station 19 rolled in to accept the finished wreaths and stayed to hang out with every single child.

Inclusion Day brought inspiring visitors from Angling for Relief and Finn’s Fighters, opening the floor for campers to share their own personal stories.

Then came Thursday: Manners Matter. At the start of the week, each camper was sent home with a personal Royal Tea Party invitation with the ‘Royal Kingdom of Kindness’ wax seal. Dressed to the nines in full formal wear with camp clothes stashed in bags for later, everyone found their place card marked “Lord” or “Lady.” Guided by the pros at Tom James Company, the boys learned to tie ties, button jackets, and give firm handshakes while maintaining eye contact, while the girls practiced posture, curtsying, and dance holds.

It was, without a doubt, the sweetest chaos of the week.

And Then We Went Live on FOX 13

In the middle of the tea party, our Executive Director Sharri Cagle welcomed Regina Gonzalez of FOX 13’s Tampa Bay Live into the room, live, in front of the whole city. When Sharri asked the campers for a proper hello, dozens of girls in gowns turned and curtsied to a television host they had never met. Then they showed her their twirls.

The Power of 10

To mark ten years of camp, the Hessel Family Foundation handed every camper ten dollars with one instruction: It is not for you.

They were to spend it on somebody else, then come back and tell everyone who, what, where, when, and why. They took it to a veterinarian’s office, a foster closet, and a hospital. One group left camp that evening, drove to the airport, and handed out ‘BE KIND’ stickers to travelers heading off on their trips, wishing every one of them happy trails.

“They are so excited to do it and come back and share what they did,” Sharri said, “and we’re hoping that’s contagious, and it carries on, and it just spirals out in our community.”

Why We Keep Doing This

Jenn has been bringing her son Luke to Kind Camp for six years. Ask her what it means, and she does not mention crafts. She talks about a place where Luke is loved, supported, and where he has role models.

And it goes the other way too. Some Big Buddies arrive having never spent time around a child with special needs.

“They didn’t know how to act around children with special needs, and this gave them the opportunity to learn about it, and how it’s changed their lives,” Sharri said. “And these are big buddies coming back eight years later that still share those stories.”

On the last day, the Ice Dreammm Shop truck pulled up under the oaks, opened the window, and served the whole camp. A sweet way to finish two weeks and ten years.

Thank You

To Mr. Bob at Lake Magdalene Church, who beat everybody there every morning, helped run the Little Buddy lessons and ran the music for the dance parties.

To Pat Booth, who took it upon himself to recreate the lemonade stand that started it all in 2015 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Kind Camp. To Autism Inspired Academy and Lake Magdalene Church for opening their buildings for a second year. To Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, Angling for Relief and Finn’s Fighters for giving these campers a day. To Tom James Company, Sprouts Farmers Market, Costco, The Home Depot, Shipley Do-Nuts, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Zephyrhills Natural Spring Water, Ice Dreammm Shop, Cody with Crosstown Promotional, LLC., Tampa Breakfast Sertoma Club, and 102.5 THE BONE.

And to the Big Buddies, who gave up two weeks of summer and their phones to sit on a floor with a younger child and pay attention.

See You Next Summer

The Big Buddies from our first summer are grown now, and some of them still tell the story of the year that changed how they see people. Here’s to ten more.

Camp comes back next summer. Find us at hesselfamilyfoundation.org.