Summer
Healing
Across New Jersey, PBA Locals contribute
more than money to transport LODD
survivor kids to annual C.O.P.S. Kids Camp
n BY STEPHANIE JONES
A few kayaks dock along the sandy shore of a small lake that
gleams in the early morning mist. Beyond the bank, between
displays of archery targets and zip lines heavy with dew, a row
of placarded cabins stirs with rising morning sounds.
The scene could be any summer camp outside Milwaukee.
Every summer camp is known to fill its days with rock
climbing, campfires and Color Wars. Every summer camp is
known to bring together groups of strangers and turn them
into friends. But only one summer camp is proven to take individual, grieving, young law enforcement survivors and empower them as a collective, unstoppable force for the rest of
their lives.
For more than two decades spanning the grounds of the
Salvation Army Lake Camp in East Troy, Wisconsin, the Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) Kids Camp has been transforming the way survivor children cope with loss. The ongoing
way in which these children benefit from that transformation
is the reason Garden State C.O.P.S. President Lisa Preslar sends
out an annual letter of appeal to the NJ State PBA in an effort
to offset the cost of transportation from New Jersey to Wisconsin – a burden that ranges from $400 to $600, depending on
how far in advance each passenger books.
Every C.O.P.S.-presented event runs at no cost to survivors
because, according to Preslar, the organization believes survivors “already have paid the ultimate price;” however, because
so many national events are located hundreds of miles west of
the Garden State, the transportation alone can be more than
some New Jersey families can manage. This year, as a result
of the enthusiastic response from PBA Locals across the state,
Preslar’s letter raised more than $8,000 for survivors and their
families – and helped send 75 new survivors to camp.
“These donations have been a godsend to the chapter in
helping our survivors get the help they need,” says Preslar,
whose husband, Lakewood Local 71 member William “Nichie”
58
NEW JERSEY COPS
■ SEPTEMBER 2016
Gracie Preslar scales the rock wall at
the 2016 C.O.P.S. Kids Camp in East
Troy, Wisconsin.
Preslar, was killed in the line of duty on May 14, 2007.
Help for survivors comes in many forms, but none like that
of the week-long C.O.P.S. Kids Camp. Each camper aged six to
14 participates in group activities that range from swimming
and fishing to arts and crafts and campfire sketches, but the
heart and soul of the camp’s mission advocates age-appropriate, intensive group counseling, formulated specifically for
children suffering the loss of their parent’s or guardian’s lineof-duty death.