Trust and Teamwork Conquer The Toughest of Challenges

By Alice Reid
Friday, July 25, 2008

Dillon Osei placed one foot into a hanging tire and shoved off with the other.

"Swinging!" he said.

"Swing on!" came shouts in reply.

Dillon, 15, a staff trainee at Camp Moss Hollow, had embarked on a 40-foot journey, careening from swinging tire to swinging tire, all suspended from a wire and dangling about two feet above the ground. Would he make it to the last tire?

It looked like something the Marines might have invented.

With some resolve, more momentum and lots of encouragement from a dozen other teens stationed along the way to catch him if need be, he made it to the end of the tricky course.

And by getting there, he demonstrated a Camp Moss Hollow truism: In unity, trust and teamwork, much can be accomplished. Or, the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts.

It's a life lesson that is constantly reinforced for the nearly 100 campers at Moss Hollow every week. Teamwork wins the daily "Golden Broom" award for the unit with the tidiest beds, the neatest bathrooms and the cleanest cabin floors. It's teamwork that transforms the dining hall after meals, when campers and counselors together stow away tables and chairs, sweep up the trash and mop the floor.

Not everybody at Moss Hollow has had much experience with teamwork or trust. More than a few campers lead challenging lives as foster children. Many live in neighborhoods where trouble, even danger, can be hard to avoid and where mutual trust is the exception rather than the rule.

"They're kids who've been marginalized," Camp Director Hope Asterilla said. "Many of them haven't known much success."

Moss Hollow offers a taste of success, and it often comes through trust and teamwork.

The camp's Challenge Course is where every camper gets the message loudest and clearest, whether they're tackling those tires, trying something a bit simpler or confronting the Big Daddy of challenges: the Wall.

Smooth and vertical, nearly nine feet tall and built of wood, the Wall demands the ultimate in teamwork.

"Push his feet up!" was the communal suggestion last week as a group of teens began the climb. One by one, boys were hoisted by their mates until the top of the wall was reachable and the boys could pull themselves up over the rim.

Then came the smaller girls, who were pushed up until those at the top of the wall could reach down and pull them up, like rag dolls, over the top. And finally, the tallest teen in the group, Markesha Fantroy, jumped as high as she could until her mates could grab her hands. They pulled, and she used her feet to gain traction until she was over in triumph. Everybody got over, not one of them on his or her own.

Camp staffer Neil Val Paige nodded his approval.

"That took teamwork, trust, focus, unity, patience, strategy and communication," he pointed out.

"That's the deal at Moss Hollow."

How to Help

With our campaign columns concluding today, campers have only a couple more weeks to enjoy the freedom, space and challenges of Camp Moss Hollow, all made possible by readers like you who have contributed to Send a Kid to Camp.

We'd like to challenge those of you who've waited to send a donation. An anonymous donor has stepped up to match gifts provided these last 10 days, up to $75,000. We hope that will help us meet our goal of $475,000.

So give now. We'll be accepting donations through the weekend. Send a check or money order, payable to "Send a Kid to Camp," to P.O. Box 96237, Washington, D.C. 20090-6237. Or contribute online by going to www.washingtonpost.com/camp. You'll see a place to make a donation. Click there.

To use MasterCard or Visa by phone, call 202-334-5100 and follow the instructions on our taped message.

Also remember our partners, McCormick & Schmick's Restaurants and M&S Grills, who've helped raise money by offering camp specials every Wednesday. They are also offering dining certificates for substantial gifts to the campaign. For gifts delivered from July 11 through today, they'll provide a certificate for lunch for two for donations of $250 and up. A gift of $500 or more will earn a certificate for dinner for two. Family and Child Services, which operates Camp Moss Hollow, will provide the certificates.

The silent auction sponsored by FCS ends tonight at midnight. To bid on five box-seat tickets, worth $95 each, for the sold-out performance of "The Lion King" at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 23, please go to the following Web site:

http://donations.ebay.com/charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=26207.

Any questions regarding the auction should go to Family and Child Services at 202-289-1510.