This month, members of the Verona Lions traveled to Camp Marcella with Boy Scouts from Troop 5032 to clean the buildings, repair benches, doors and floors at the camp to make it safe for upcoming visually impaired children attending the camp. The Lions volunteers included Bill Edge, Nick Frank, and Myron Spektor; Austin Frank and Antonio Giannini volunteered for the Scouts.
Camp Marcella is New Jersey’s premier residential summer campground designed specifically for children and teens with blindness, visual impairments and special needs. The Verona Lions has been volunteering services to this camp for over 50 years. Camp Marcella is the facility designed and owned by the NJ Camp for Blind Children (NJCBC), an organization started in 1947. At that time a casual type of camp facility existed, but to many parents it lacked the advantages of a complete camping experience. So NJCBC began recruiting the right people for the right jobs. With the physical work and contributions of the Verona Lions and other Lions clubs throughout NJ Camp Marcella opens its gates every summer.
Today Camp Marcella comprises over 200 acres of woodland surroundings and a clear fish laden lake, with all of its facilities designed for the best possible care of visually impaired children.
The camp is located in one of the few areas of New Jersey that has not been touched by suburban sprawl. It is adjacent to the Pequannock Watershed, Farny State Park and a large Boy Scout Reservation. The combination of abundant wildlife, woods, lakes and serenity brings campers to an idyllic setting.
