Intern Chronicles: Fresh Air

[nggallery id=37]

FISHKILL, N.Y. – We are soccer. We are basketball. We are obstacle courses. We are dodgeball.

We are Team ESPN and Disney VoluntEARS at Camp Hayden-Marks.

Last Saturday morning, 66 ESPN and Disney volunteers from Bristol and New York rolled into the Fresh Air Fund Camp Hayden-Marks.

They carried hula hoops, potato sacks, bats and balls of every shape and size. Campers donned ESPN Play Your Way T-shirts and slung swag bags across their shoulders.

Volunteers led campers through an NFL combine’s worth of physical challenges.

The volunteer program, in its fifth year, was sponsored by ESPN Corporate Outreach and Disney Community Engagement. 

The program provides an opportunity for both Bristol and New York employees to bring the world of sports to the Fresh Air Fund campers. 

Since 1877, the Fresh Air Fund has made it possible.

Many of the volunteers were inspired as they performed alongside four ESPN VoluntEARS of the Year: Butch LeClair, Kendra Grant, Gwendolyn Harrington and David Kelly. There were also four VoluntEARS of the Year from Disney New York on board.

Together, all of the volunteers spent their day giving back to 8-12 year old boys bent on packing a year’s worth of swimming, hiking and games into a two-week camp stint.

The day ended for ESPN staffers with lunch in the cafeteria, talking sports with the next generation of ESPN fans. Before a debate between two Bronx sixth graders about the prowess of Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant could be settled, it was time to leave.

Our work at Camp Hayden-Marks was officially done.

Back to top button