The programs and activities the camp offers are put together with accessibility in mind. The specially designed facility provides recreational and social experiences, with the added incentives of challenge and competition for camper fun and enjoyment.
The central location of Camp Challenge is well situated to serve the entire state and some Southern states. Through the efforts of Board Member, Mrs. Sydney L. Weintraub of Miami, Mr. Stanton D. Sanson agreed in 1960 to donate 50 acres of his Mt. Plymouth Lakes tract on State Route 46 between Mount Dora and Sanford. In 1973, the Deltona Corporation donated 13 adjacent acres of orange grove, making a total of 63 acres for the campsite.
In planning Florida’s first camp without architectural barriers, the state director drew upon the New York Herald-Tribune’s experience with camps for individuals with disabilities, together with visits to Easterseals camps in other states. In 1961, with General Arnold J. Funk of Sarasota as president of the state society and Dr. Bruce Thomason of the University of Florida as chairman of the Camp Committee, work began. The first session was held in 1961 with only hygiene facilities and the pool constructed. A circus tent was borrowed for a dining hall and the 108 charter campers and all staff lived in borrowed squad tents. A mobile therapy trailer served as the dispensary.
Camp Challenge now has 10 fully air-conditioned/heated cabins, an ADL building, a health and wellness center, a dining hall with a capacity of 150 at a meal, an arts and crafts building, an archery range, a swimming pool, a covered gazebo with a basketball court, picnic tables, and a one-half mile paved nature trail.
