A place for kids and adults to learn to build and create with a kind and generous teacher
Katy resident Danny Wells has a heart for helping others. When a co-worker had a lapse in childcare, he volunteered to pick him up and take care of him. He decided to share his love of woodworking with him and it was the start of Camp Danny.
Since then he has hosted around 100 kids and adults with the goal of helping them realize the joy of creativity in projects using their hands.
“We have become a society of having to pay people to do things for us,” Wells explains. “Camp Danny is a place to get kids and adults involved in projects that will give them skills in woodworking and handy man projects.” With his background, Wells is the perfect person to teach others.
Originally from the Beaumont area, he prides himself on being self-taught and may have found some inspiration from an uncle that had a shop and was good at making things. “I was always that kid that built a treehouse,” he remembers. Currently retired after a career with ExxonMobil as a machinist and millwright, he has also built three houses for relatives and prefers to keep busy. His only payment for a house he built for an uncle was a George Foreman grill and that is fine with him. “I get so satisfied helping people,” he says. After many projects with local Girl Scouts, a new award called the “Danny Wells Innovative Engineering Award” was established.
Current projects include building a train track for HO Model trains. Every year he donates time to local schools and includes Camp Danny experiences as fundraising auction items. His neighbors have become an extended family for him and they are always welcome to come work with him.
And, although Danny and Tracy enjoy taking time to travel and visit with their children and grandchildren, they love the feeling of giving back to their community. An avid dog lover, Mr. Danny spends time at Camp Bow Wow Katy and adopted a dog from them that needed a good home. He is also well known as a favorite guest at his local Chick-fil-A where team members enjoy seeing him every morning having his sausage biscuit.
Mostly, he is happy staying busy and taking the time to encourage others. “It’s purely about giving back,” he says. “I feel you have to give back.” The Katy Community has benefitted from his generosity and the skills he has shared with others who have been lucky enough to spend time at Camp Danny.
For Danny Wells, Camp Danny has been a wonderful experience for him and he is happy to say that not a single camper has ever said that they did not want to come back.
