There once was a couple whose approach to parenting was so skewed from the norm that they locked their children in the basement while they left town. Another couple struggled with a drug addiction so engrained in their psyche, they forgot they had children to feed and clothe. Another family neglected to protect their daughter from an uncle with an unhealthy bent toward little girls.

All of these acts resulted in making an impact the children involved. In each situation, a child is scared for life, left to struggle with the effects of their circumstances. For some, the abuse and/or neglect demanded the focus of a social worker and a legal system that rendered foster care the better option. For others, remaining in the biological home was preferred by the state and the children were at risk of abuse and neglect once again.

The challenges are heartbreaking and seem insurmountable. For the social workers manning the cases, that could easily be the reality. For a week in June, however, the challenges are set aside for a week of fun at Royal Family Kids Camp. Completely free of charge for these kids, RFKC offers a week of refuge, a place where kids can just be kids. Staffed with special friends, aunts, uncles and grandparents made up of volunteers recruited to create a “family”, RFKC is a camp like no other.

2012 marks the 20^th year of RFKC in Northwest Missouri. The 6^th camp established by RFKC, it has been a continuous success under the tutelage of Sandy Hamlin and her husband, Coach Ken. The two have spent the last 20 years dedicating their time, love, finances and energies to providing abused and neglected children in Buchanan, Clinton, Dekalb and Andrew counties an opportunity to spend a week at camp, focused not on their situation, but instead on how to be a kid.

For Susan J. Campbell Copywriting Solutions, this camp is an opportunity to get involved and make a difference for these kids. Each year, our team travels out to RFKC to provide meals, interact with the kids and provide any other help to staffers seeking to make this camp a success. It’s our way of giving back, working together as a team to see the impact we can make. It not only improves our performance as a team, it reinforces our belief that success is nothing if you don’t pay it forward.

To learn more about this wonderful organization, visit www.rfkc.org.