Into the LLYC Family Fold

Many of Claire Carter’s friends are LLYC Alums. She has 3 children and it was through her divorce that many of those friends came together to support her in ways she couldn’t comprehend. At first, Claire didn’t know the commonality of their expression of God’s love and inclusion until someone told her they’d all been friends since their LLYC camp days. These were relationships over 30 years old, and this was how they took care of each other.

Claire shares:

They drew me and my kids into their fold and I felt like my kids needed a piece of this sort of love and inclusion and care. My oldest then turned 9 and I signed him up for Singing Hills. A few years later I moved to Austin and the LLYC bonds continued to hold me up. I was unemployed one year and ashamed to ask for scholarship help, but I did it anyway. Camp provided them.

I then started a law practice. I was crazy-poor, so I applied for scholarships again. Camp gave them again. I was slow to pay my portion every year, but Emily McRae (LLYC’s Registrar) worked with me. This is an understatement. She and I have talked more and at an intimate level than she should have to do for any one family.

The gifts of camp have blessed my 3 children. My own life is vastly enriched and maybe even saved by what LLYC has cultivated in its campers starting in the 1970’s. It’s a redemption story, though, because of what camp has given to my three kids and what it continues to give to me, apart from the campers. Some of my best friendships have LLYC and HEBFF as their starting point.

Anna (right)

Anna (right)

Wade (center)

Wade (center)

Henry at Singing Hills

Henry at Singing Hills

My son Wade is now 16 and has been going to LLYC since age 8. Anna is now 14 and Henry, who just finished up his second summer, is now 9. My law practice is finally solvent and I didn’t have to ask for scholarships this year. I feel really proud of that. God has humbled me greatly, but he has made His abundance very clear to me, and it’s a legacy HEBFF should be really proud of.

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