Brigadoon partners with pharmacies for camp initiative

Nova Scotian caregivers picking up medication for their kids could find a new prescription in their bags: an invitation to a unique summer camp that supports children with health conditions and other life challenges.

Brigadoon Village has partnered with select pharmacies across Nova Scotia to reach the families of children who are eligible for its overnight camp programs. Through this new campaign, developed in partnership with Halifax-based creative agency, Wunder, caregivers will learn about the therapeutic benefits that a camp experience offers. In each prescription bag, they will find an additional “pill bottle” labelled with prescriptions for what camp can do that medications can’t such as, “There’s no medication for making new friends,” or “For building self-esteem.” Another bottle prescribes, “There’s no medicine for learning new things.”

The Brigadoon “prescriptions” are rolling out as camp applications have opened for the summer.

Brigadoon Village, a yearround camp facility in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, hosts 15 medically-supported camps each summer for kids ages seven to 18. Each program is designed to provide a therapeutic and fun camp experience to children who may not have had the opportunity to otherwise go to camp. It allows kids with the same illness or challenge, for example, kids with celiac disease, heart conditions, Crohn’s disease, cancer, asthma or parental mental illness, to be together and just have fun without worrying about their conditions.

The non-profit camp, the largest of its kind in Canada, has a pay-what-you-can fee structure. No Atlantic Canadian child is turned away because of finances. No one is turned away because of where they live. Children from across the country can attend Brigadoon. About 3,500 children visit the camp each year.

With camps for varying degrees of illnesses and challenges, families who think their child might not qualify to attend are invited to ask about programming.

To learn more about the 2023 camps, visit brigadoon village.org/camps.