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Volunteers Make It Easier
New York summer camp puts smiles on faces
In this special atmosphere, all the barriers came down. You’d hear nonchalant conversations over a craft project: ‘My hair just fell out,’ or, ‘That cancer in my leg really hurts today.’ There was no stigma to being sick. They weren’t patients anymore. They were just kids.
— Maija Judelson, camp coordinator
Camper Kira, 5, and her brother, Lucas, 3, formed fast friendships with volunteers Nina (left) and Ariel while they stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in New York City.
Kids get excited when summertime hits. The warm months ahead promise trips to the beach, baseball games and visits to the park. But when a child is diagnosed with cancer, the fun activities can be replaced with blood draws and bone marrow transplants, CT scans and chemotherapy.
Volunteers of the Ronald McDonald House of New York restored the carefree joy of the summer for some of their children. Under the guidance of a camp coordinator, about 25 volunteers operated Camp Ronald McDonald, an eight-week day camp with traditional camp activities: sports, arts and crafts, impromptu water fights, goofy skits — even kayaking trips on the Hudson River, and an overnight camping trip for parents and children.
“The beauty of camp is that they all met other kids going through the same thing,” says Maija Judelson, camp coordinator. “In this special atmosphere, all the barriers came down. You’d hear nonchalant conversations over a craft project: ‘My hair just fell out,’ or, ‘That cancer in my leg really hurts today.’ There was no stigma to being sick. They weren’t patients anymore. They were just kids.”
You’ve Got a Friend
Volunteers and campers formed special relationships. Kira, a 5-year-old girl from California, stayed at the House in New York while her younger brother was hospitalized. When camp started, she was usually the first one there in the morning. Kira immediately found a special friend in Nina, a college student who volunteered as a camp counselor. “Kira needed someone who was there just for her every day,” says Kira’s dad. “Nina became that person.”
Nina, 19, had been volunteering at the House for about four years before working at the camp. “It’s not scary to work with kids with cancer,” she says. “They’re normal kids who happen to be sick. Our job is just to make them smile.”
Nina says volunteering for camp was fun and rewarding. She laughs about the water wars on the terrace because the kids were relentless against the counselors. Kayaking on the Hudson River and the camp’s trip to a professional trapeze school were highlights for her, too. At the trapeze school, Nina watched in awe as a young boy with little control on the left side of his body swung from a trapeze 50 feet above the ground. “The counselors had as much of a blast as the campers,” she says.
Read about your volunteer opportunities with RMHC, and then contact your local Chapter.
