PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A special summer camp for kids with disabilities is returning to Pasco County.

For nearly 25 years, PACK Camp, which stands for Pasco Association For Challenged Kids, has welcomed kids over the summer.

It’s starting up again in June and July after being canceled last year due to COVID-19.

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“I’m amazed. Never thought we’d be going this long,” said co-founder Barry Cohen.

Barry and Paula Cohen started the camp in 1997 for their son Gregory, who is autistic. When no summer camp would take him in, they started their own.

Though he no longer attends, Gregory still remembers it.

“I’ll tell him, ‘Mom and dad are having camp this year. What’s the name of our camp? And he gets very excited. He smiles and goes, PACK Camp, PACK camp!’ He remembers,” Barry said.

The couple has hosted the camp every summer since. That was until 2020, when the pandemic hit.

 

“It broke our hearts,” Paula said. “It was the first year in 24 years that we didn’t have camp. It was just terrible. But we knew we couldn’t do it safely with what was going on.”

Now they’re getting ready to welcome campers back in June and July at the Genesis School in New Port Richey.

That means a much-needed break for parents who didn’t get one last summer.

“There still isn’t another program that does what we do. Take kids with extreme disabilities,” Paula said.

While they will have some changes, like encouraging masks and having two smaller sessions compared to one big one, they want families to know they’re back.

“It’s a little different this year. I know the parents and kids are still looking forward to it after not having it last year,” Paula said.

PACK Camp takes in kids and young adults with disabilities, ages 3 to 22. They still have openings for campers for late June and July and are looking to fill those spots.

For more information, please visit pascopack.org.