cer, “joy and
belonging.”
Mathews
became
Camp
Twin Lakes
program
director in
2000 when
the camp
was operating
on 120
acres that
had been
donated to
Camp Twin Lakes by Georgia Pacific. The
compound, which comes complete with,
of course, two lakes, has 30 cabins, an art
studio, a wild variety of outdoor activities
including zip lines, fishing, a ropes
course, putt putt golf, archery, baseball,
boating and swimming.
In 2001, Camp Twin Lakes purchased
another 180 acres from Georgia Pacific
and in 2007, under the direction and
urging of Madison’s Charles Baldwin, the
camp purchased another 200 acres. That
parcel is now a working farm that fronts
Newborn Road and remains contingent
with the rest of the property. “Baldwin
Farm” has approximately 80 angus cows.
“The majority of the acreage is in beef
cattle,” says Mathews. The cows provide
beef for campers. There is also an
instructional garden with more than 100
varieties of plants for camper education
and a production garden that grows tomatoes,
cucumbers and other vegetables
for campers.
There are goats, and three Alpacas, too.
“Today is a good day to have a good
day.”Since it’s opening, Camp Twin Lakes
has exploded in both campers and offerings.
From the 1,000 campers that traveled
to Rutledge in 1993 to the more than
10,000 annual visitors the camp receives
now, Camp Twin Lakes has become the
standard bearer for operating a camp for
children with illness or developmental
disabilities.
Camp Twin Lakes operates, Mathews
says, on an annual $6 million budget.
Approximately 70 percent of the budget
is raised through various fundraising
events. Partnerships with various camps
26 LAKE OCONEE LIVING | SUMMER 2021
helps cover the remaining 30 percent,
Mathews says. Regardless, no camper is
turned away.
Ever.
“We operate through the generosity of
our community,” Mathews says. Funds
flow to Camp Twin Lakes, he says, in part
because “people understand our mission.
It’s an easy ask.”
That mission, in large part is to give a
child the “opportunity to be like any other
kid,” says Mathews. “And they do so in a
safe place where everybody gets it.”
There is Camp Sunshine for children
with cancer, Camp Kudzu for kids with
diabetes and Camp Oasis for kids with
Crohns and Colitis. It is May and soon,
very soon, Mathews along with 35 summer
staff members, mainly college students
like he once was, will greet various
camps for 10 solid weeks. During the year
other groups with children utilize Camp
Twin Lakes healing space approximately
30 weekends a year.
“Do the universe a favor and don’t hide
your magic.”Mathews may be the perfect
fit for this job. His mother Barbara spent
more than 30 years in the DeKalb County
School System as a special education
teacher back in a time when children
with developmental disabilities were
treated differently both by educators and
society. His father Henry worked with the
Center of Disease Control and Prevention
in Atlanta and spent time in Ethiopia
in the 1970s doing malaria research and
finding that he had a heart built to help
refugee children.
Barbara, Mathews says, was “the kind of
teacher that spent every night working on
individual lessons plans for each child.”
“She literally brought her work home
with her,” he says of his mother. “She had
kids that she didn’t know if they were
going to eat or not so she would bring
them home.”
So Mathews learned. “Every week she
would bring a kid home.”
“I was comfortable with kids with disabilities,”
he says.
ABOVE LEFT: The ‘No Limb Ropes
Course’ is specially designed to give
campers freedom and opportunities
at Camp Twin Lakes. ABOVE RIGHT:
Krazy Legs Archery is one of the
many outdoor activities available at
Camp Twin Lakes. RIGHT: Hannah
Mathews, 14, daughter of Dan and
Heather Mathews, participates in one
of the many summer programs at
Camp Twin Lakes. After a coronavirus
hiatus, the camp is resuming activities
this summer.