The Cause
Across the globe, a family receives the devastating diagnosis of childhood cancer every 3 minutes. Bringing that closer to home, an estimated 1 in every 285 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer before the age of 20. That’s an estimated 15,780 children with cancer between the ages of birth and 19 in the U.S. according to the American Childhood Cancer Organization.
While we are looking forward to the day that cancer is little more than a memory, we are eager in our partnership with Care Camps Foundation to help make a difference in lives impacted by childhood cancer and provide you the opportunity to participate.
About Care Camps Foundation
In 1984 KOA (Kampgrounds of America) campground owners established the KOA Care Camps Trust. The purpose of the trust is to raise funds for children with cancer (and their families) to attend specialized summer camps across the United States and Canada. At these camps, they will receive the care they need while they swim, hike, laugh, make new friends, and create memories of their own.
Since ’84, Care Camps Foundation has raised $26 million to support over 122 nonprofit camps across North America. This would not have been possible without the support of KOA Inc., individual KOA campgrounds, national and regional sponsors, and generous campers.
Stories
Care Camps Foundation connects children and their families to the healing power of the outdoors by funding these supervised pediatric oncology camps across North America. Meet one of the incredible kids whose life changed by attending camp.
The Benefits of Camping
Spending time in nature has a profound effect on our bodies and minds. Camping provides the opportunity for us to set our worries aside, step out of our daily routines, and reconnect with what is truly important. If camping can do all this, imagine what a week at camp would mean for a child struggling with the impact of cancer.
These specialized camps (supported by Care Camps Foundation) provide a place for children to come together in an environment where they don’t have to answer constant questions about their health and experiences, where they don’t have to feel different, and where they can let the stress go and for once just be a kid.
Then they leave camp and head home with not only the experience of a lifetime and new friends, but with a renewed sense of hope fostered by physical and emotional healing.
Care Camps Foundation is working to “send children affected by cancer to medically supervised camps where they have a wonderful time in the great outdoors with other kids who understand what they are going through.”