Let's provide ice cream to the kids of COPS camp!

This fundraiser has been created to honor the wishes of my father Gary Svejcar. Gary has been a police officer for the Crystal Lake Park District since before I was born and he loved every minute of it. He has always had a passion for doing good things and helping others just because. Gary was always a big supporter of C.O.P.S. Kids Camp. Each year in July he would go to C.O.P.S Kids Camp and donate his time. When my German Shepherd Tyson was old enough, Gary took him to therapy training and got him registered to be a therapy dog. In addition to visiting adult homes for people with special needs, Gary and Tyson made their appearances at C.O.P.S. Kids Camp together every year for as long as they lived. The kids looked forward to seeing the duo every summer and Gary loved bringing Tyson and seeing the smiles he put on the faces of the children. Gary's last appearance at C.O.P.S. Kids Camp was in 2018, as Tyson passed away and Gary's health started to decline greatly. Although he was unable to make the trip to Wisconsin these past few years, he has been keeping in contact with the families that he and Tyson became close with through the C.O.P.S. Kids Camp experience. Gary's last wish was to continue to provide the children of the C.OP.S. Kids Camp with smiles every summer for years to come. He thought the best way to do that would be to rent an ice cream truck in his name and pay for every child at the camp to receive a free ice cream of their choice, every summer. Donations to this GoFundMe page will help us to fund his last wish of renting an ice cream truck and paying for the ice cream for all the children for as many summers as we can.

C.O.P.S. Kids Camp is planned for surviving children (6-14 years of age) and their parent or legal guardian of law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty. C.O.P.S. Kids Camp provides families the opportunity to interact in a relaxed setting that is removed from everyday life. Oftentimes, young children who lose a parent do not have a safe, comfortable place to share their struggles with their peers. C.O.P.S. Kids Camp offers that, as well as a place for parents/guardians to do the same. Campers will have the opportunity to attend age-appropriate grief counseling sessions that will address their needs. Licensed mental health professionals will support all campers, adult and child alike, by facilitating these sessions and presenting tools for families to implement at home in the future. Attending C.O.P.S. Kids Camp will also give campers the chance to participate in fun, challenging activities while providing a camp-like structure that encourages relationship-building. We hope that all campers leave the week with an increased sense of personal growth, and a strong support system made up of peers who can truly understand.

Thank you for your support and any donation you can offer to help us continue to bring smiles to the faces of these children in honor of Gary Svejcar, a loving husband, father, grandfather and Park District Police Officer. Even a $5 donation would pay for an ice cream for a child at C.O.P.S. Kids Camp.