WESTPORT -- Camp Can Do teaches children all is possible through Christ, both with its week-long program and in its successful repetition year after year.

The trick, says Pastor Dick Hoff, is sticking with what works and adapting when it doesn't.

"We try to make it exciting for the kids, and I think it is," said Hoff, who directs the annual vacation Bible school at Westport Bible Church that this year will be June 30 through July 4.

Proof of that is in the numbers -- Camp Can Do draws as many as 100 children grades kindergarten through nine. And often, veteran campers come back to help out.

POUNDS OF PENNIES

What works is the reward points that campers and their teams earn, awarded for any number of reasons.

Hoff might, for example, promise points during the start-of-day hubbub for the first team to quiet down. Campers win points for learning Bible verses and reaching other goals during the 8:30 a.m. to noon sessions.

"There are a lot of points during the week," the pastor said. "It's one of the things we keep doing because it works."

After a while, the big prize of a shared 10-foot banana split served up in a rain gutter became make-your-own sundaes.

"There's a little more concern with parents about passing germs," Hoff said.

The penny collection is another integral part of the program, with every single cent going to the guest missionaries who talk to the children about their work.

"We have an on-site bank -- VBS Band and Trust," Hoff said. "We take the offering each day and weigh the pennies.

"Some of these kids will save up pennies all year."

Last year's total topped $1,500 -- more than 800 pounds of pennies -- that went toward a well project in Africa.

The schedule itself is of about 15-years' standing -- because it works.