Camp ANCHOR Celebrates 50th Anniversary With Crazy Contest

As part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Town of Hempstead's Camp ANCHOR, Councilman Anthony D'Esposito is teaming up with with John’s Crazy Socks and the participants in the Camp ANCHOR Summer Program to create a 50th Anniversary sock.

ANCHOR is the town’s comprehensive, year-round program serving 1,200 children and adults with special needs in the Town of Hempstead. Camp ANCHOR, the town’s six-week summer day camp program in Lido Beach, serves approximately 700 children and adults with special needs throughout the summer. Camp participants who are ages five years and up enjoy an array of athletic, aquatic and cultural programs, as well as field trips and special events.

“The partnership between our Camp ANCHOR, which is an amazing program for those with special needs, and a company run by a young man with special needs is very symbiotic,” said D’Esposito. “To put these two together to create something that will celebrate our program’s 50th anniversary and help fund other programs for those of differing abilities is just perfect.”

“I have down syndrome and down syndrome never holds me back,” said John Cronin, co-founder of John’s Crazy Socks. “Our mission is to create happiness.”

Camp ANCHOR participants will create socks during their arts and crafts class and then John will choose a winning design. That design will be announced at a celebration in the first week of August. Families will be able to pre-order the commemorative socks, and the proceeds will go to the ANCHOR Program Fund.

ANCHOR Program Fund, Inc., is a charitable, not-for-profit organization that accepts donations to fund special activities and events, as well as the necessary supplies and equipment, for individuals with disabilities participating in programs like ANCHOR.

“I love outside-the-box thinking and I think this program is the perfect way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a place that has almost become a second home to the participants,” said Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney.

John’s Crazy Socks is operated by John, a young man with Down Syndrome, and his father Mark. The company is built on the mission of showing what is possible when you give someone a chance and demonstrate what people with intellectual disabilities can do.

“Camp ANCHOR is one of the best places on Earth, and I couldn’t be happier to be celebrating its 50th Anniversary with a fun program that will get everyone involved and will actually raise some money for the Camp ANCHOR Program Fund,” D’Esposito said.

Photos courtesy Town of Hempstead