Tie Dye + Hope

Tie dying shirts is an activity center that is a camp tradition. Over the years, and after many ruined clothes, we have improved the process to an art. The children don smocks and gloves for the task. They twist the shirts with rubber bands in any design they want. They use squirt bottles to apply the color precisely.

There are still campers who get frustrated or find this difficult. One girl camper was getting frustrated when one color went into a section of the shirt that she didn’t want. The counselor immediately reassured her that is was okay. That the colors would blend. She showed her another way to apply the dye so it would only go where the girl wanted. She told her camper that the shirt was going to look beautiful anyway, and she was going to love it.

As I watched, I thought about how much her shirt was like camp. There is no way to let life happen to these kids the exact way we would like. There is no way to undo the damage they have experienced. However, we can try to create something beautiful with carefully applied love.

And just maybe, when these children grow up, and the rubber bands of CPS, foster care, and abuse are removed, there will be beauty and there will be hope.