Lions Camp Horizon (LCH), the overnight summer camp providing community for all ages of campers with developmental and physical disabilities, has new leadership.
Thanks to fundraising from the local Lions Club, LCH is able to hire full-time leadership positions for the first time to help revamp the nonprofit and ensure it can keep providing summer fun well into the future, newly hired executive director Jen Lautenbach said.
Lautenbach was named to the position in November 2024 after serving as executive director of the Lynden Community/Senior Center, and she has first-hand experience on the impact LCH can make after volunteering to serve food while her son worked as a first-year counselor.
“I volunteered to serve meals and got to see the joy and excitement on the campus,” Lautenbach said. “It reeled me in.”
Last year’s 50th anniversary camp brought in 131 campers, including 37 first-time campers coming from B.C., Oregon, Alaska and all over Washington. Campers at Bay Horizon Park in Birch Bay participate in summer activities like horseback riding, tethered hot air balloon rides, archery, bowling, art and crafts and more.
There’s also no age restriction for LCH, with campers last year ranging in age from 13 to 75.
“We’re always trying to make sure that everyone understands the opportunity at Camp Horizon is not restricted to kids or teenagers,” Lautenbach said. “One of the core missions is [providing] recreational opportunities for adults with physical and developmental disabilities, because those opportunities tend to run out when they age out of public school programming.”
This summer, LCH will have four camps starting July 7 and ending August 8. “Adventure Camp” is geared toward independently mobile campers and will feature beach field trips, go-karts and mini golf at Station 49 in Birch Bay. “Base Camp” is intended for individuals with higher needs and will feature new activities, Lautenbach said.
Lautenbach said she is excited to “rejuvenate” a beloved service for the community.
“For 50 years, this camp has run primarily on volunteers,” Lautenbach said.
She said the LCH board was able to raise funds to hire full-time leadership positions to handle operations, development and everything else that comes with running a nonprofit.
Now, Lautenbach is part of a new team with more focused goals that has Lautenbach taking on fundraising and outreach responsibilities, Na’Kita Zylstra as program manager, and Angie Dixon as business administrator.
“I truly enjoy helping build community programming and serving in that manner,” Lautenbach said. “I see this as a great opportunity to do that as well. We have something truly amazing out here, and to be able to come in and help build this camp and this program and this service is a dream.”
For more information on how to sign up, donate, or learn more, visit lionscamphorizon.org.
