In Hebron, off the beaten path-- there is a small camp that has been around for inner city kids since the 1950s. It's called Camp Hi Hoti. And once you're through the gates, you hear kids laughing, tossing the ball or getting messy in arts and crafts.
They are the typical sounds of summer. But this summer, camp-- almost didn't happen.
And the campers who are regulars here like 10 year old Mutia Aaminujimbah have a tough time understanding why.
"It made me feel frightened because I was afraid i wouldn't get to go to camp,"Aaminujimbah says.
On April 9th, it looked very different.
Every window in the arts and crafts building had been shattered.
The kitchen appliances had been destroyed.
The new riding lawn mower had been forced from the garage and pushed intp the pool.
In all, vandals caused more than $75,000 in damages.
""April 9th," Camp Director Lynn Ford remembers, "was a devastating day."
But camp carries on because the community came together.
The camp is run by a Hartford agency called Hartford Neighborhood Centers and agency director Lynn Ford wouldn't let anything stand in her way.
"I knew," Ford says, "that I had to do what I gotta do to open." That meant a lot of people and a lot of contractors working overtime. But they did it.. "When i see the kids out here playing," Ford says, "I see the smiles on their faces. I can go home and look myself in the mirror and say, OK. I did the right thing."
Today, Ford learned that Lowe's would be granting their wish list-- donating a brand new riding lawn mower-- and helping the staff and contractors paint the buildings.
If you know anything that might help in the investigation, please call police.
"It made me feel frightened because I was afraid i wouldn't get to go to camp,"Aaminujimbah says.
On April 9th, it looked very different.
Every window in the arts and crafts building had been shattered.
The kitchen appliances had been destroyed.
The new riding lawn mower had been forced from the garage and pushed intp the pool.
In all, vandals caused more than $75,000 in damages.
""April 9th," Camp Director Lynn Ford remembers, "was a devastating day."
But camp carries on because the community came together.
The camp is run by a Hartford agency called Hartford Neighborhood Centers and agency director Lynn Ford wouldn't let anything stand in her way.
"I knew," Ford says, "that I had to do what I gotta do to open." That meant a lot of people and a lot of contractors working overtime. But they did it.. "When i see the kids out here playing," Ford says, "I see the smiles on their faces. I can go home and look myself in the mirror and say, OK. I did the right thing."
Today, Ford learned that Lowe's would be granting their wish list-- donating a brand new riding lawn mower-- and helping the staff and contractors paint the buildings.
If you know anything that might help in the investigation, please call police.
