YAKIMA, Wash.- The Christmas holiday season is over and the time to take down decorations is upon us. As you look for where to toss your holiday trees, Camp Prime Time is offering a way to dispose of the trees and help the community.
The camp’s 34th Annual Christmas Tree Recycling Event is underway and will fund a camp for families with members who have developmental delays or terminal illness.
The event works with Pape Machinery who hosts the event at its Fruitvale Boulevard location, Trickinnex Tree Trimming & Falling who will chip the trees and DTG Recycle who transports the chipped trees.
“Something like this, where you can reach out and help somebody else, I don’t know, you feel it in your heart,” says Patti Betts, Camp Prime Time’s Volunteer Coordinator.
Betts, who says her sister has disabilities, is grateful for the community who when dropping off trees, often drop off a financial donation to fund a full camp for families to attend for free.
“For me to pass that forward, that’s something that is important to me,” she says.
After being chipped, the trees will be used at the camp in Wenatchee or be sold to help make up any additional costs.
The camp is described as “a special place for special people,” run by volunteers who are specially trained to work with a wide array of disabilities.
For the families that attend, it’s a chance to spend time with their loved ones without the financial burdens and with a support system who know what they’re dealing with.
“It’s not often a possibility for people who have children with special needs because they have a lot of medical equipment, they don’t have a lot of money,” says the camp’s Executive Director Margaret Filkins. “This is an opportunity to go up be in the woods, be by yourself just as a family with other families that may have similar needs.”
Filkins joined the camp in 2023, but says she’s heard Camp Prime Time’s praises from across the country.
“These really are the memories that they look back on,” says Filkins. “Some of the people that I’ve met have lost a child who was also a camper, and those memories are still holding them together and they’re holding them to Camp Prime Time. This is where they found their happiest moments.”
The recycling event runs through January 7 when Camp Prime Time will begin to chip the trees. Donations are accepted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 3110 Fruitvale Blvd in Yakima.
