Ferrum College alumni and East Coast Camp founders Darrell ’74 and Bonnie Huffman ’75
Alumni Darrell ’74 and Bonnie Huffman ’75 returned to campus in June, joined by 680 youth attending East Coast Camp, a summer youth camp they established in 2010.
The Huffmans met at the College 50 years ago. He was at Ferrum to play football under legendary Coach Hank Norton, and she was here to earn a degree in business. Darrell and a teammate first met Bonnie and her identical twin sister during registration. “We ended up having a class together, which led to me asking Bonnie to the Homecoming dance. Bonnie accepted and the very next week we started dating,” said Darrell. The couple still giggle when they talk about sharing one of their very first kisses on the Adams Lake bridge.
After playing for Norton for two years, Darrell transferred to ETSU on scholarship, and once they were married, Bonnie joined him. Darrell wanted to teach and coach, but kept feeling in his heart “your calling is to preach”. Eventually, he became a youth minister at ETSU, attended bible school, and began preaching in 1978. The couple relocated to Huntington, WV, started a church, and after envisioning hosting a summer youth camp, they contacted Ferrum College about being the host location.
“We started in Vaughn Chapel with about 75-80 kids. In those first few years, we averaged about 100 campers, then it grew to 150-200, and after we skipped 2020 due to COVD-19, we had a big jump to 300-400 campers and had to move ‘chapel’ to Swartz Gym. Now 681 campers are in attendance this year including our six grandchildren,” said Huffman.
“It is a joy and a privilege to host East Coast Camp at Ferrum College for the 15th year,” said Ferrum College President Mirta Martin. “Welcoming over 600 youth from all across the east coast for such a special experience is very meaningful to us. We are touched by the Huffmans’ choice of location—their home at Ferrum College—and we look forward to continuing to share it with the youth they bring to us every year.”
The camp’s growth comes from the Huffmans’ vision to partner with other churches and as the partnerships grew they changed the name from Fusion Camp to East Coast Camp. This year, 24 partner churches brought youth to camp from Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland.
Many of these partnered youth ministers, pastors, and leaders are already looking forward to next year’s camp, which may be even larger in 2024. “With good word of mouth marketing from these involved churches and through campers sharing their ‘change of life experiences’ with other youth, more churches around the east coast have already reached out to be a part of the next East Coast Camp, and we look forward to being back next summer,” concluded Huffman.
