Deaf Today: Athletes bowl to help summer camp

April 19, 2003

Athletes bowl to help summer camp

From: Capital News, NY - Apr 19, 2003

By: Mike Crispino

At just 12-years-old, Quinn Burch has the focus and intensity of some people twice her age. She's legally blind and deaf. But any sense she lacks, she makes up for in youthful determination and persistence.

She said, "Sometimes I do feel different, but really I know that what I am doing is a different way to do something."

Father Jim Burch said, "The most amazing thing about her is her will to try and not to let the disabilities really bring her down."

This weekend, hundreds of amateurs and dozens of pros laced up their bowling shoes to help support a summer camp for kids just like Quinn. It's called Camp Abilities, based out of SUNY Brockport.

The week long retreat helps sensory impaired children learn and play sports. There's no coincidence organizers chose bowling to benefit the program.

Pro bowler Tommy Delutz, Jr. said, "Just look at the smiles on the kids' faces and you can see they're having a good time. They're leaving their disabilities to the side and they try their hardest."

Living with different abilities can be a life long challenge. But for Quinn and her family, the challenge is more of a personal journey.

Jim Burch said, "Each person of the family is an individual that makes a wheel, but everybody has to understand kind of what's going on in the other person's life. And we just have a few obstacles that we deal with."

Obstacles that aren't holding back kids like Quinn from getting a strike in every goal they set out to accomplish.