I am on the board of a charity organization called Camp Quality. Each year we plan and fundraise all year long to coordinate one week of camp for 52 young campers and THIS IS THE WEEK! We provide a free week-long camp experience for children with cancer, and their siblings. It is a place where bald heads are the norm rather than the exception. People don't stare at you funny if you need to use a wheelchair or crutches. All 'stigmas' are thrown out the door for one glorious week, where these kids just simply "get to be kids again".
The week is JAM packed with activities -- Harley Rides, a visit from the Corvette club, a costume party, crafts, a Helicopter landing, fishing, Build a Bear, campfires and a carnival..just to name a few! We only have 6 members on our organizing board, so we use LOTS of volunteers to pull these events off...including 20ish volunteers from Ernst & Young (including Jacob, front left in green shirt). They took the afternoon off of work yesterday and bused out to our camp in Excelsior Springs to help put on a carnival for the kids.
Here is one of the girls showing off her face painting.
Jacob moved through various different activities, but here he is cheering on a kid while he attempts to throw a ping-pong ball into a plastic cup. (Most of the activities were a little more robust than this one) Dunk tanks, bounce houses, cotton candy, Sheridan's ice cream, etc.
Having one child in a family afflicted with cancer is TOUGH on the whole family, so we encourage siblings to attend too! This helps reward the siblings for the sacrifices they have made, as well as helping them better empathize with their afflicted sibling. Not to mention, it also gives their parents a well-deserved break for 7 days!
The below pictures is one of the sweetest things I witnessed at the carnival. Noah, cancer victim, won a little stuffed bear at one of the carnival activities. He gave it to his little sister, who accompanied him to camp. It was such a sweet gesture. :)
There is a wonderful story about Camp Quality on the front page of today's Kansas City Star.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/02/2124382/camp-quality-takes-away-stigma.html
The week is JAM packed with activities -- Harley Rides, a visit from the Corvette club, a costume party, crafts, a Helicopter landing, fishing, Build a Bear, campfires and a carnival..just to name a few! We only have 6 members on our organizing board, so we use LOTS of volunteers to pull these events off...including 20ish volunteers from Ernst & Young (including Jacob, front left in green shirt). They took the afternoon off of work yesterday and bused out to our camp in Excelsior Springs to help put on a carnival for the kids.
Here is one of the girls showing off her face painting.
Jacob moved through various different activities, but here he is cheering on a kid while he attempts to throw a ping-pong ball into a plastic cup. (Most of the activities were a little more robust than this one) Dunk tanks, bounce houses, cotton candy, Sheridan's ice cream, etc.
Having one child in a family afflicted with cancer is TOUGH on the whole family, so we encourage siblings to attend too! This helps reward the siblings for the sacrifices they have made, as well as helping them better empathize with their afflicted sibling. Not to mention, it also gives their parents a well-deserved break for 7 days!
The below pictures is one of the sweetest things I witnessed at the carnival. Noah, cancer victim, won a little stuffed bear at one of the carnival activities. He gave it to his little sister, who accompanied him to camp. It was such a sweet gesture. :)
There is a wonderful story about Camp Quality on the front page of today's Kansas City Star.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/02/2124382/camp-quality-takes-away-stigma.html
2 comments:
Goosebumps! What a great deal for the kids. You should be SO PROUD of all your hard work. Thanks for being such a great human! The world needs more people like you.
Wow! What a wonderful thing! Keep me in mind for next year to help out if you need it. I would love to be a part of this!
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