About Community Service for Schools

Community Service for School’s parent company – Reachout America is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization with a mission of sending special needs children (and their parents) to camp. Reachout America has a volunteer Board of Directors who offer vision and guidance to our mission. Our founder, Bill Chafin, has “a heart for the children” and is actively involved in the day-to-day operations of Reachout America. Mr. Chafin is particularly fond of Hippotherapy camps (Horse Therapy), but any camp that serves disabled or special needs children holds a place in his heart. You can learn more about our unique organization by going to Reachout America.

Our program has a strong desire to cover all the financial expenses involved in sending special needs children along with a parent or guardian if necessary including transportation services to and from for the duration of the camp visit. We strive to coordinate all the logistics necessary to ensure each child’s experiences are pleasant, well-planned, and full of fun adventure. ReachOut America is here to purchase any and all camping equipment needed to meet the particular physical needs of the participating child during their adventure.

While it is an ever-present and ongoing expense to send children with health issues or physical challenges to a specialty camp for that are 7 to 14 days long, all community service efforts will have a direct, immediate, and significant impact on making dreams of camping adventures come true today for kids with compromised and often life-threatening health issues.

The Story of Bill

It was a bitterly cold January evening in 2000, the end of a day Bill thought would never come to an end. It had seemed like an exceptionally long day because the illness that he had been diagnosed with only a few weeks prior suddenly felt real to him. He had been in denial of this disease of Multiple Sclerosis. After all, he thought, how could he – a husband, a devoted father of two beautiful children, a man who had been healthy his whole life – be struck with such a potentially-debilitating, life threatening disease? Bill went through all of the emotions after that chilling diagnosis – denial, sadness, despair, anger – everything anyone could possibly feel. But that particular January evening he felt something very different – as if God himself was whispering to him.

After being totally blind for 5 months and then regaining his vision and was able to behold his wonderful family again, he felt compelled to give back to the universe, to do more to help others, to be of service to the less fortunate. That’s when Bill had an epiphany – he would cope with and strive to rise beyond his illness by focusing on the needs of others. Then he asked himself, “Whom should I help?” Bill always loved children and youth. That was his first thought. He then decided he wanted to focus his energies on helping children with illnesses and disabilities. And so, Bill started the non-profit foundation Reachout America with the mission to send kids with illnesses, disabilities and other hardships to camps that not only could help them be with other children who were dealing with some of the same things they were dealing with, but also help them with other types of therapy.

Since June 2006, with Bill at the helm, Reachout America has not only sent many kids to various camps across the country, including awesome horse riding camps that offer Hippotherapy and space camps for children who dream of flying to the moon. His efforts have not only helped children with Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism, Congenial Heart disease and countless other challenges by coordinating many of the details necessary to have them attend the camps, but also contributes funds to these camps so they can help other kids continue their therapy.

Reachout America continues to both raise money through various unique programs and seek volunteers so that many other children can continue to go to camp and therapy. With your help – the help of individual people and corporate contributors – Bill’s personal nightmare has transformed into a blessing and a dream has come true for hundreds of children across America.