MIFFLINBURG, Pa. — Camp Setebaid at Camp Mount Luther near Mifflinburg isn't your typical summer camp. It is for kids and teenagers with Type 1 diabetes. All week long, campers learn how to manage their diabetes while staying active at camp.
"We are playing rocks later, which is similar to Capture the Flag in a sense. We have pool time every day, so they love that, just some time to relax and rest. We have some mind games—so our theme this year is Olympics, so on Monday we were doing all sorts of mind activities," Kimberly Garvey, Mount Luther camp director.
At Camp Setebaid, medical staff and dietitians are on hand to help the kids track their carbohydrates, blood sugar, and medication. Every day, campers look up the menu, add up their carbs, and figure out how much insulin they're going to be given. Doctors then go over everything and help give the children their medication.
"Whether that's through manual injections or for insulin pumps, and then they get up and eat, and back to our normal day of activities, so just that little added step, aside from our nighttime checks, we do check on our kids at midnight and 3 a.m.," said Garvey.
Ava Murray was diagnosed 9 years ago. She says being around other kids who also have type one diabetes helps her feel understood.
"If you say you're going low, like people understand that, people can help you more than when you're around people that aren't really familiar with the disability, and it's just helped me like know that if I'm going to like an activity or something I can like backup on my carbs a little bit or my insulin."
Mason Derr is in his 8th year of camp and credits it with helping him to learn and manage his diabetes.
"Setebaid itself did so much for me, not only with diabetes but with life in general, with the friends and memories I made, and I thought it'd be nice to give back to them."
Camp Setebaid runs through Saturday.