Who We Serve

Approximately 8,000 children in the United States will be newly diagnosed with cancer each year. Cancer is the leading cause of death from disease among children. Children with cancer are subject to rigorous treatment regimes that impose considerable stress on their bodies, their families and their psychological well being. Treatment often requires surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Children with cancer face difficult challenges as a result of their treatment. They face losing their independence, losing their hair, and for some, losing a limb. In the 1960's only 15% of children with cancer survived. Today, more than 70% of children with some form of cancer live into adulthood. Living proof are the many counselors at Camp who are themselves cancer survivors. 

There are approximately 10,000 children and adolescents in the United States who are living with HIV infection or who have AIDS. What was once a disease that claimed the lives of children in their early school age years has progressed into a long-term chronic immune disease. Medical advancements allow these children much longer life spans. However, the life of a child with HIV infection is marked by frequent infections and hospitalizations, constant medical surveillance and rigorous medication regimes. 

Hemophilia is a genetic bleeding disorder that occurs primarily in males. These children lack a factor in their blood that allows it to clot. They are prone to repeated bleeding episodes primarily in their joints and muscles. This factor deficiency can be temporarily corrected by injecting a concentration of the missing factor directly into a vein. This treatment must be repeated with each injury or bleed. Repeated bleeding can limit joint mobility and force children to restrict their activities. 

Sickle Cell disease is a genetic blood disorder that primarily affects African Americans. Children with Sickle Cell disease are born with abnormal, sickle-shaped hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the part of the blood that carries oxygen to your body cells, tissues and organs. Children with Sickle Cell disease often have painful "crisis" in which the flow of blood to a particular part of their body is blocked by clumps of their sickle-shaped hemoglobin. Their lives are marked by frequent hospitalizations, doctors' visits and often severe pain.