Dan Markel, a director of Petroleum Valley Youth Camp in Chicora, has started a fundraiser to make the facility more accessible to people with disabilities. Molly Miller/Butler Eagle

Dan Markel, a director of Petroleum Valley Youth Camp in Chicora, has a vision for the facility he operates: to make it more accessible to people with disabilities.

Markel was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and has been in a wheelchair since childhood. He said the camp is not suited for those with wheelchairs or other disabilities, which is why he started the PVYC Accessibility Project.

“If you’re in a wheelchair and you want to use the restroom, you just can’t,” he said. “The goal is to make it a place where kids can come with handicap needs.”

Adding accessibility to the restroom, shower, parking, sidewalks and recreational center would cost $54,000. The Accessibility Project fundraising website already has raised $20,000.

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