STAIRCASE

Sophie has a menagerie of animals at home, and she will tell you herself that she gets along better with animals than people.

So when Sophie arrived at camp, she was quiet and withdrawn. The people who knew her best predicted she would never make it through the first day. They figured she would be on the phone with her mom before lunch, asking to come home.

But Monica was her counselor that week.

Monica had a gift for meeting campers exactly where they were. When the Critterman arrived with his snakes and the lake shimmered with swimming possibilities, Monica did not push. She encouraged Sophie to take one small step, then another, building bravery like a staircase, pointing out each rung Sophie had already climbed so Sophie could see her own progress.

By the end of the week, Sophie was not just trying new things. She was inspiring her cabinmates to try them too.

“Just knowing that people liked me for me,” Sophie said, “I could actually make friends, and that gave me the strength to stay at camp.”

She never called her mom.

Your generosity to Hungry Mother Lutheran Retreat Center makes it possible to hire counselors like Monica, who know how to walk alongside a quiet, animal-loving girl until she finds out she is braver than she ever imagined.