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<< Previous   of   Next >> Michael O’Leary / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Volunteer Katie Kloes, 15, plays with one of her favorite campers, Braeden Wetzel, 6, at Camp Prov, an Everett day camp for children with special needs.   ADVERTISEMENT   To learn more To learn more about volunteering at Camp Prov, call volunteer services at Providence Everett Medical Center, 425-261-4580.   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 Teens show a gift for caring for special needs children By Gale Fiege, Herald Writer EVERETT - Best friends Kaitlyn Dirkes and Katie Kloes can giggle and goof like any 15-year-old girls. "These teenagers could be at the beach or at the mall," said Sonia Wetzel. "But they choose to spend their summer days with kids who really need them." Wetzel's son Braeden, 6, has a neurological disorder and attends Camp Prov, where Kaitlyn and Katie are veteran volunteers. Staged at Forest Park and run by Providence Everett Medical Center, the five-week day camp provides activities and care for children with physical and developmental special needs. The camp also serves as a respite for parents and siblings who need a little break. "Camp Prov is fun for us, but it helps whole families," Kaitlyn said. Kaitlyn and Katie are back this month for their third season as volunteers. During morning and afternoon sessions at the camp, they help paid staff work one-on-one with children, many of whom have autism. The girls help the children participate in games, crafts, swimming, singing and educational activities. "We get to know the whole group, but you buddy up with a kid who fits your personality," Kaitlyn said. "When you hang out with a kid for a week and see his improvement, you really fall in love. It's hard to say goodbye at the end of the session." Christie Tipton, manager of the camp and at Providence Children's Center, said the 20 teen volunteers at the camp get an education, too. "It takes away the fear of working with these children," Tipton said. "Many of these volunteers later become paid staff here who then go on to become doctors, therapists and educators." That's the sort of path Katie and Kaitlyn, both good students, would like to take. "I hadn't thought about that direction, like medicine, before we began our second summer and we really learned about these kids," Katie said. Friends since fourth grade, Katie and Kaitlyn were first encouraged to volunteer at Camp Prov by their parents, Daren and Lori Kloes and Byron and Edi Dirkes. Lori Kloes works in marketing at the hospital and Byron Dirkes is in the human resources department at Providence. Because of their maturity and with some babysitting experience behind them, the girls were welcomed into the volunteer program at age 13, a year earlier than most volunteers. "They have such a great work ethic, compassion, spirit and connection to the kids," said Tipton. "And that's not something you can train." Working at Camp Prov also is a way for the girls to stay in touch, now that they attend different high schools, they said. Katie is a sophomore at Cascade High School, where she is involved in leadership class and drama, and enjoys making presentations about Camp Prov. "A lot of my friends want to volunteer now, too," she said. Kaitlyn is a sophomore at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, where she enjoys singing in choir. She's even sung the national anthem at an Everett AquaSox baseball game. Kaitlyn said she also loves to sing with the kids at Camp Prov. Often silly, but always fun, the songs are repeated each day to help children learn and remember the tunes and lyrics. "The first week, I was working with boy who was not singing. But by the end of the week he was humming along and enjoying himself," Kaitlyn said. "And that's the kind of thing that keeps you going at Camp Prov." That connection to the kids is the reason the girls have started their own babysitting service for families of Camp Prov campers, Katie said. "We really do want to see the kids that bad," Katie said. The girls go together to each babysitting job and offer free child care at Christmas time. One of their clients is Sonia Wetzel. "I never worry for one second when Braeden is with them," Wetzel said. "That's very hard to find." At the end of camp last summer, the girls approached the Wetzel family with a proposal for babysitting. "They said, 'We won't charge much. We adore your son and would love to see him again.' They are just dolls," Wetzel said. "We are so lucky we've gotten to know them."

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