Spartan Profiles: Lynne Hughes

CAMP COMFORT

            Countless children suddenly lost loved ones on 9/11, and they do not have many places specifically designed to help them heal. One such place, featured by People (Aug. 13, 2001), is Camp Comfort in Goochland, VA. The camp was founded in May 1999 by Lynne Barribeeau Hughes, ’86, a native of Rochester who lost both parents before she was 12. “My dreams were gone,” she recalls. “By the time I went to MSU, my goal was simply to get through every day and just be OK. I had no safety net.” 

            After MSU, Hughes worked at a summer camp in the Poconos, where she met future husband Kelly, and worked managing nonprofit medical groups. In 1995, she founded Motherless Daughters, a national support organization, and 1998, she founded Camp Comfort, a grief camp for kids (www.campcomfort.org). “It’s one of those rare times in life when everything made sense,” recalls Lynne. “It was perfect based on my personal experience and my personal interests. When God wants you to do something, mountains move, the right people come into your path.” Those right people include some five therapists and 30 “Big Buddies” who have volunteered to help staff her camp, and also to help raise funds.

            In November, Lynne ran the first camp in Montclair, NJ, for 9/11 victims (with another camp planned for Long Island in February 2002). “Our biggest challenge is to get the word into the hands of grieving families,” says Lynne. “Many are still in shock and suspicious of people trying to contact them.”

            Noting that there are no bereavement camps for kids in New Jersey, Lynne calls her camp “a resource, not a panacea.” She explains, “When you hear some of the stories, you realize that all we offer are, hopefully, some tools for healing. All we can do is make their journey a bit easier.”