Thank you for visiting my fundraising page! I hope you're ready to band together and show everyone why Session 1 rocks!
Camp Del Corazon has been part of my life for 18 years and it's at the heart of my most cherished memories. I spent 7 years as a camper before graduating and moving away for school. I'm so thankful that I've been back as a counselor since 2019. Camp was amazing as a camper and it's even more fun to be on this side, getting to ensure that more kids have a great summer camp experience and make their own lifelong friends.
Since chronic illness generally leaves families with enormous medical bills the camp is entirely free for the kids. Most of the kids come from pretty chaotic homes and the camp experience is really life changing for the kids. They're able to experience the confidence of not being the only ones with scars and tubes and medication. The camp is full of doctors and nurses who volunteer their time to make sure these high-risk kids are perfectly safe and get to be kids. It's a really lovely thing to be a part of and I'm really hoping to meet my goal and give more kids their own life-changing experience full of new adventure.
Camp del Corazon (Camp of the Heart) was inspired by a patient of Dr. Kevin Shannon. Even though the young man had undergone an operation that dramatically improved the function of his heart, he was still suffering from emotional pain. He was back in school, back in little league baseball, even trying in-line skating for the first time, but he was so embarrassed by his scars that he wouldn't remove his shirt to be examined by the doctor.
Dr. Shannon felt that if his patient could spend time with other kids who'd had heart surgery, he'd be less self-conscious. He located a camp in Louisiana for kids with heart disease, but the young man's mother just couldn't bear to send him so far away. When Dr. Shannon discussed the situation with Lisa Knight, R.N., her solution was simple: "We can do that." And so they did.
They set about fund-raising to ensure that the medically-supervised summer camp would be free for children ages 7-17 who had heart disease. When Camp del Corazon began in 1995, 49 campers spent three days on beautiful Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California. Over the years, the camp has grown to three five-day sessions with more than 350 campers. Camp del Corazon is staffed completely by volunteer counselors, nurses, and physicians who give of their hearts to help these special kids.
Camp del Corazon has grown into a non-profit organization dedicated to providing experiential programs for children and families living with heart disease. Programs include a free-of-charge, residential summer camp, virtual programs, leadership retreats, educational symposiums and family weekend programs custom designed to enrich the lives of their unique population. Each year we serve more than 600 children and families because of your support!