Jamie McCabe is used to having her family do things on their own. Her 10-year-old son Jordan has autism, epilepsy, and is non-verbal, and his friendships are usually limited to people he meets through his therapy center. The McCabe family was familiar with Victory Lane, but July’s camp session was the first time they were able to participate.

“It was tremendous to experience it firsthand. I liked the idea of merging typical and special needs families together. It was great to see the social impact happening for both families,” noted Jamie.

The McCabes were paired with the Richardson family, which consisted of Donna and Ronnie and their grandchildren Zeke and Madeline. Zeke and Jordan became fast friends.

“We loved seeing Zeke play with Jordan,” Jamie shared. “He did so well with Jordan and they were best buds after the camping weekend.”

Zeke and Jordan spent time swimming, chasing each other, and just bonding together as friends. If Jordan wasn’t around, Zeke was asking where he was.

After camp ended, the two families looked forward to Victory Lane community events where they would see each other again. When it came time for the tailgate picnic in August, Zeke had to make a decision. He could go to the tailgate picnic and spend time with Jordan, or he could attend an extracurricular school function and get points for a reward system at school.

Zeke chose not to attend the school activity so he could spend quality time with Jordan.

This decision was not lost on Jamie. She reached out to Zeke’s principal and asked him to consider giving Zeke the points he would have earned by going to the school function.

“Seeing how Zeke interacted with Jordan and engaged in play with him was so heartwarming and rare as our son has no boys his age that interact and engage with him,” Jamie expressed in her message to the principal. “He is an outstanding young boy with such a beautiful heart and love toward the special needs community. I’m thankful for his friendship toward our son.”

The McCabes and Richardsons plan to spend time together both at Victory Lane events and at one another’s homes so the boys can continue to grow their friendship.

You may have seen this story highlighted in our recent Fall Appeal letter. There is still a budget deficit that your gift now can help with. When you support Victory Lane, you are making it possible for friendships to form like the one between Jordan and Zeke. You can find more about how to get involved by visiting victorylanecamp.org/give