Stacey Jones grabs a shovel as she heads out of the office to help with the Royal Secret. Two staff workers Along with Cory Rainbolt, Jones collected thousands of dollars worth of gifts and prizes and hid them around the district’s campus last year as part of a treasure hunt to generate excitement for this school year. Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022.
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Stacey Jones gets choked up every time she tells the story.
As the longtime athletic secretary for Eastern Hancock schools, she was taking tickets at a basketball game one night when a young girl — the manager for the opposing team — caught her eye.
The teen was filling water bottles right next to where Jones was collecting tickets, but the girl wouldn’t stop looking at Jones. Turns out, it was a young girl Jones had met at the Royal Family KIDS camp five years prior, when the now-teenage girl was 11 years old.
Jones has been the lead organizer of the local Royal Family KIDS camp ever since a friend first introduced her to the program 17 years ago.
The local branch of the camp — part of a worldwide initiative by the For The Children Foundation — was started by a member of Wilkinson Church of Christ over 20 years ago.
“The camp is for abused and neglected kids, mainly kids in the foster system,” said Jones, who spent three years as a foster parent years ago.
“We take elementary age kids, 7- to 11-year-olds, and just try to make a week of summer camp special for them, a ‘normal’ week for them. It’s a week to just let them be a kid,” she said.
“These kids just haven’t had it so good. A lot of them are the caregiver for their younger siblings,” said Jones.
Each year, the camp recruits about 30 kids and twice that number of volunteers, who spend a week swimming, horseback riding and making s’mores by the campfire.
“We intentionally way outnumber the kids so we can spoil them,” said Jones.
“We have a grandma and grandpa and an aunt and uncle at the camp, and we refer to them as that, just to show the kids what a normal family can look like.”
One of the most emotional moments of the week is when the camp hosts an “Everybody Birthday Day,” where the campers celebrate with birthday cake and individual gifts.
“Every year we have a kid who will start crying when they receive their present,” said Jones, but it always turns out to be happy tears. “That kid that’s crying will say, ‘Nobody has ever done this for me.’ It’s so special because a lot of these kids have never had a birthday party before,” she said.
Eastern Hancock’s superintendent, George Philhower, was impressed with the camp when he stopped by one day this past summer.
“It was incredible,” he said, heaping praise on Jones for her heartfelt approach to serving kids.
“We are all better people for getting to share some space with Stacey every day at Eastern Hancock,” he said.
Adam Barton, the principal at Eastern Hancock High School, is equally impressed with Jones and the Royal Kids Camp.
“The amount of time and energy that she commits to this program is amazing and wonderful for kids,” he said.
Jones is already working on plans for next year’s camp, which will be held the second week of June at an undisclosed campground, for the children’s privacy.
While some mistakenly think the Royal Kids camp is related to the Eastern Hancock Royals, Jones said that’s not the case, but she does have plenty of colleagues at the school who volunteer at the camp each year.
When a former camper started classes at the high school a few years ago, the teenager recognized one of the teachers who had volunteered at the camp.
“She told the teacher, ‘I have a picture of you at home,’ and she brought in her memory book and sure enough, she did,’” Jones recalled.
When the girl was told that several other staff members at her new school had been counselors, too, she made her way around the school reconnecting with each one.
“That was a really fun moment,” said Jones.
It provided a rare moment for her and other camp counselors to see a former camper thriving and doing well.
“You know you’re planting these seeds, but you don’t always get to see them grow,” said Jones.
As for the former camper that recognized Jones at a high school basketball game a few years ago, she and Jones continue to keep in touch.
Jones, a mother of three grown sons, had developed a close bond with the girl at camp and wanted to become her foster mom. But fate had other plans, and Jones eventually lost track of her after she aged out of the camp, although she prayerfully scoured high school team rosters each year hoping to find her.
After they reconnected at the basketball game, the two kept in touch, and Jones attended the young girl’s high school graduation. She feels blessed to have been able to play a big role in her life, helping her to get set up in an apartment and enroll for classes at Ball State University.
Jones will never forget the night they reconnected after locking eyes at the water fountain outside the high school gym.
“I said, ‘Sarah?,’ and she said ‘Yes,’ and I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’ve been looking for you!’ She said, ‘Stacey, I’ve been looking for you too.’ And she’s been a part of my life ever since,” said Jones, who helped celebrate when the young woman got married last month.
The pair keep in touch through frequent texts and emails, and meet up for lunch several times a year. They met for lunch just this Thursday, right before the winter storm blew into town.
“It warms my heart to see how well she’s doing,” Jones said.
To learn more about the Royal Family KIDS camp, visit ForTheChildren.org.
