Camp Joy

The joy is back in Tazewell County. In 2004, The Salvation Army decided to give Camp Joy to an area not-for-profit organization. CVCA took ownership in the spring of 2004. It would be three years before CVCA would itself being able to use the facility because of water and sewer issues. Camp Joy has not been idle while waiting for approved water and sewer at the camp. A dedicated group of RSVP volunteers, community volunteers, churches, businesses, civic organizations, CVCA employees and the board of directors had been busy restoring seven of the eleven buildings at the camp and clearing years of brush, debris, sediment and decay from around the buildings and grounds at the camp.

Two dedicated and tireless RSVP volunteers, Curtis Gillespie and Earl Tabor have been volunteering at Camp Joy since 2004.With the help of The United Way of the Virginias, American Electric Power, Tazewell County Supervisors, Southeast RCAP, Lion’s Club, Tazewell Presbyterian Church, Thompson & Litton, EMats, DelRick, Bluefield Monument, Rotary Clubs, and many more, repairs were completed. The sounds of children’s laughter had been missing for ten years at Camp Joy and were fully restored when 27 area children spent the first day of Day Camp on Monday, July 23, 2007.