There is simply nothing like one-on-one connections, human touch and personal interaction. They can lift spirits and change lives.

Those types of interactions are what Aaron's Acres is built upon, and collectively they are the driving force behind the local nonprofit's original program, summer camp.

"We accept participants with all disabilities," said Elaine Burnett, who's been a program director at Aaron's Acres for 12 years. "Their needs vary, from hand over hand to behavior assistance to emotional and communicative assistance. With 1-on-1 or 1-on-2 staffing, we're able to meet those needs. We're able to meet those participants where they're at. It helps us meet the child where their need is right now."

"The traditional summer camp usually has a 1-to-6 or 1-to-8 counselor-to-participant ratio," Burnett added. "But we're able to assist and modify concerns right there and now."

This year's edition of Aaron's Acres summer camps will be held over three two-week sessions - June 16 to 27, July 7 to 18 and July 21 to Aug. 1 - at New Holland Community Pool and Park, 400 E. Jackson St., New Holland. The camps are designed for residents of Lancaster, Lebanon, Berks, Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties, ages 5 through 21 with mental, behavioral or emotional disabilities.

Aaron's Acres offers half-day summer camps from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or full-day summer camps from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Some of the camp activities include games; arts and crafts; swimming; therapeutic music; therapeutic horseback riding; and interactive entertainment like magicians, petting zoos and ventriloquists.

"The goal is to create a traditional summer camp program," said Burnett. "All participants should have opportunities to enjoy summer camp regardless of their abilities. Everybody should have the opportunity to participate in programs like these. At Aaron's Acres, we want to provide that for them."

In 2024, Aaron's Acres summer camps served 45 participants in each of its sessions. But a shortage of seasonal staff counselors created a waiting list for participants.

"We can only accept as many participants as we have staff for," said Burnett. "The more staff we have, the more participants we can have. Last year, we didn't have enough staff members to accommodate all the participants every two weeks. We'd like to accept 60 participants every two weeks. We need to hire more staff."

Staff counselors must be 18 or older, and they are not required to have any specialized training.

"We will do all the training," said Burnett. "Our counselors are generally made up of college students who are looking to go into special education or becoming social workers. This is an amazing hands-on opportunity for college students."

Aaron's Acres, which is located at 1861 Charter Lane, Suite 114, Lancaster, was founded in 1998 as a summer camp for 11 participants ages 5 through 9 with disabilities. Today, Aaron's Acres serves 160 individuals ages 5 through 40 with year-round, recreation-based sports, social and community-service programs directed by trained, certified staff members.

"It started when a parent came to our executive director (Risa Paskoff) and said, 'School is over. Now what?'" said Burnett. "So that parent and our executive director started this summer camp. Over the years, we've expanded the ages, and we expanded the programs. Then we started a weekend program. Last year, we expanded our programs to include adults."

For additional information, go to http://www.aaronsacres.org.