Wonderland Camp provides a fun, educational camp experience for mentally and physically individuals, to offer a respite from daily care giving for family members and health care workers and to provide and nurture a personal development experience for volunteers and staff.

Charles J. Miller had a dream. It all started the summer of 1969 during a conversation with the Executive Director of the Woodhaven Learning Center, a school for mentally and physically challenged children in Columbia, Missouri.



His dream was of a residential summer camp on property he and his brother-in-law, Harry Brown, owned, located on the Lake of the Ozarks. A camp where the physically and mentally challenged could experience the exhilaration of outdoor living and play. A camp designed to match their special needs and provide them with the maximum safety with freedom to enjoy nature.



Meetings and discussions with concerned groups including the Missouri State Division of Mental Health, United Cerebral Palsy of Missouri, Missouri Association of Retarded Children and Woodhaven Learning Center led to a meeting with the Missouri Jaycee Executive Committee.    

Mr. Miller told the Jaycees of his dream, and on May 17, 1970, the Missouri Jaycees voted to adopt the camp project. Mr. Miller and Mr. Brown donated their land; 35 undeveloped acres adjoining the Lake of the Ozarks with an additional 100 acres for nature trails and outcamping.