In a perfect world, every kid would go to summer camp

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For Erin Sharpe, summer camp turned out to be a defining moment in her life. The weeks she spent as a teenager at YMCA's Camp Wanakita taught her real-life lessons about teamwork, resilience and independence that still resonate today.

"I learned a lot about myself that I didn't realize before, in terms of what I could do," she says. "And the bonding that came with the other people in the group, it definitely has stuck."

Now a professor of recreation and leisure studies at Brock University, Sharpe is well aware that many Ontario parents simply can't afford to send their kids to camp. But she says there are supports available to help lower-income families give their children that once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Sharpe is our guest on tonight's episode of 'Closer Look.'

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