Finding Belonging at Camino Farms

This summer, seven Merion Mercy students spent a week at Camino Farms in Berks County, Pennsylvania, as part of a new Mercy Immersion opportunity—and came home with a deeper understanding of what it means to create a community where everyone belongs.

Founded by Merion Mercy alumna Katie Keating ’77 and her husband, Pierce, and now led by their daughter, Merion Mercy alumna Katrina Keating ’12, Camino Farms is a nonprofit retreat and camp center nestled on 200 acres. Its mission is simple but powerful: to create a place where people of all backgrounds can rest, reconnect, and experience genuine belonging.

For the Merion Mercy students, that mission came to life through a week serving teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. As camp companions and volunteers, the students were paired with individual campers and spent the week participating alongside them in activities ranging from pickleball and swimming to karaoke and games.

The experience began with training on Sunday, preparing the students to thoughtfully and appropriately support their campers. Once the campers arrived, the Merion girls greeted them with signs and pom-poms before meeting their buddies for the week.

Each morning, the students gathered together for prayer. Each evening, they reflected on the day—sharing the moments that stayed with them and considering what they were learning about themselves, their campers, and one another.

“The week gave us an opportunity to build meaningful connections with our campers and with one another,” said Miss Samantha Peacock, an English teacher who accompanied the group. “We grew in friendship, empathy, and understanding, while gaining new perspectives and learning the importance of inclusion and genuine connection.”

For Tobin Zazzarino, the lessons of the week extended well beyond Camino Farms.

“My week at Camino Farms truly changed the way I look at my life,” Tobin said. “I went into the experience excited to be there, but I left with a completely different perspective on what it means to be grateful and happy every day.”

What stayed with her most was the joy she saw in the campers and the sense of acceptance that permeated the community.

“Even though we are all so different, I felt a strong sense of love and acceptance,” she said. “Each counselor and camper made you know that you belonged, and each interaction held so much care.”

That sense of belonging—the very thing Camino Farms was created to foster—became one of the most meaningful lessons of the week for the Merion Mercy students.

“I wish everyone had the opportunity to experience the kind of community I found at Camino Farms,” Tobin said. “It reminded me how much happiness can come from the simplest things and from the people around you.”

For rising seniors Annie Berger, Joanie Falcone, Ava Nardi-Fitzgerald, Kaitlin McCullagh, Jacquelyn Shapson, Maggie White, and Tobin Zazzarino, the inaugural Mercy Immersion at Camino Farms was a week of service, friendship, prayer, and connection. Most importantly, it was an opportunity to live Mercy by recognizing the dignity and gifts of every person—and to discover that sometimes, in serving others, we find ourselves changed as well.