Costa Mesa summer camp focuses on young people with special needs, offers growth and friendship

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- Rising Above Disabilities Camp, known as "RAD Camp," welcomes over 200 attendees every summer in Costa Mesa.

Hundreds of volunteers make sure their students have a great time, while learning new skills.

Katie Webb Brundige and Meghan Clem are the camp's co-founders.

"We knew there was a need for respite care, and activities for campers, and kids and adults with special needs so we founded RAD camp," Brundige said.

"We both got involved with the special needs community, which for both of us was in high school," said Clem. "It's an amazing opportunity for our campers to have independence, growth, friendship and just fun."

RAD Camp offers caregivers the opportunity for a break, while volunteers get a life-changing experience to learn about being a selfless leader. The camp offers a weeklong session for adults, then a second session for the younger ones. It offers the fun of summer camp with the safety, routine and medical needs met so that parents can take time off and get a break.

"I got involved with RAD Camp seven years ago because my sister has been coming here for 12 years," said team leader Isabella Anderson. "I just saw how much she grew as a person every summer and how she was just celebrated for her individuality, and I wanted to go have that special relationship with a camper. That's really inspired me to come back every year."

"I love being with friends and my sister. This is the happiest day ever," said RAD camper Jillian Anderson.

Clem calls every day at RAD camp "disability pride."

"The feeling everybody has here, the understanding that they have here follows them everywhere they go and gives them the confidence to encourage and model it for others," said Clem.