Maine camp gets brand new floors, for free, thanks to a Peabody company

CASCO, Maine — A Peabody company is doing work at a unique camp in Maine for kids with life threatening illnesses. The project will take about a month, but the company isn’t charging the camp a penny for their work.

The crew at Saulnier Epoxy Floors is busy refurbishing the floors at Camp Sunshine on Sabago Lake. And they’re doing it all for free. “We’re talking 20-thousand square feet of vinyl removal, glue removal and brand new flooring installation,” said Jacob Andrews, president of Saulnier Epoxy Floors.

Andrews and his company is partnering with a company in Maine to donate more than $110,000 worth of supplies and man hours. “Jake stepping up, to put it mildly, we’re floored by what these guys are willing to do. Their donation is covering a lot of the materials and the labor to make this project happen,” said Michael Katz, executive director at Camp Sunshine.

The camp is a getaway for children with life-threatening illnesses, like 7-year-old Wesley Beal of Attleboro. He’s a healthy, active second-grader now, but, when Wesley was 16-months-old he underwent a 12-hour surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital to remove a brain tumor. “He has a great social life. He’s only distinguished by a 7-inch scar on the back of his neck and head. It’s very obvious, but he tells different stories depending on who asks him about it,” said Stacey Beal, Wesley’s mother.

Beal said Camp Sunshine, which is free, gives families a chance to connect with other families. “When you’re there nobody has medical issues, everybody is looked at the same,” she said.

The kids at Camp Sunshine will have brand new floors to enjoy that are less institutionalized looking, thanks in a large part to Andrews and his team. “These children, who are going to hospitals, don’t want to see another location that looks very close to a hospital, so what we provided them now is a floor that is going to be illuminating and very happy looking,” Andrews said.

The flooring project should be completed in a couple of weeks. Camp Sunshine has been virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they hope to have in-person campers this summer, including Wesley and his family.

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