SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Father Mike Brings Joy to Disabled

Standing in a circle, the group of physically and mentally disabled youngsters waited eagerly as Father Mike Wallens unfolded a colorful parachute that would soon be the center of their morning games.

“Everybody move about four steps this way,” Wallens called out to the group of excited campers and their accompanying teen-age counselors when the parachute was ready for play.

Dressed casually in shorts, T-shirt and neon-yellow cap, Wallens looked as much a camp counselor as the guiding force behind the Special Camp for Special Kids program, which he developed for disabled youths a year ago.

“This doesn’t seem like work,” Wallens said, taking a break recently from the energetic camp activities at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School. “I could do this all the time and be perfectly happy.”

Just in its second summer, the special camp--divided into four one-week sessions throughout July--has grown from 15 campers to 85, and from 25 counselors to 102.

The camp, which has attracted numerous donations from local businesses and residents, provides crafts, classes and field trips to such places as Sea World and Universal Studios.

“There’s just a need here that hasn’t been met,” Wallens said.

Parents and students active in the camp say Wallens has created a program that has made a vast difference for everyone involved.

The campers range in age from 6 to 24, and the counselors are mostly teen-agers.

For many of the campers, this is the first time they’ve ever been to a summer camp or have been paired for extensive periods of time with people their own age group who are not disabled.

And for the specially trained counselors, spending time with disabled youngsters helps remind them that they are “no better and not much different from the folks they are helping,” said Wallens.

It is a message he weaves into all the community service programs he leads at the school.

“Father Mike can really see the whole picture,” said Andi Mandel, who has two children attending the camp, and one son attending school at St. Margaret’s. “He’s a great man, and I think he’s a real benefit to the community.”

Wallens, who prefers to simply be called “Mike” by his students, became chaplain at St. Margaret’s two years ago and immediately launched a community service program and peer counseling group for the private school’s 835 students in grades kindergarten through 12.

He and his wife of more than 20 years, Susan, have two children and live in Dana Point.

Those who know Wallens say his “quiet and modest demeanor belies a man of tremendous strength and leadership.”

“I see him as a role model,” said Megan Floyd, a former St. Margaret’s student who has been volunteering as a camp counselor and organizer. “He’s very dedicated to everything he does. And he’s very caring.”

Added Masy Moatazedi, a St. Margaret’s student who has also helped organize the camp this summer: “He’s always smiling and he’s really patient with all of us. . . . There’s no one like Father Mike. He’s one of a kind.”

Wallens, 42, said his idea to create the camp was sparked in part by his previous work at a Dallas Episcopal school, where he developed two similar programs for young cancer patients and those with kidney diseases.

After discussing his camp idea with such parents as Mandel, Wallens said he received the support and approval from school officials to develop the program, the only one of its type in South County.

“We just started dreaming, and things fell into place,” he said.