Growing up is hard enough. But to grow up with cancer can be devastating to both a child’s spirits and a family’s finances. To help renew the spirits of these kids with cancer, most of whom do survive and grow up, the American Cancer Society has created a great set of outdoor programs called Camp Goodtimes for the younger kids, on Vashon Island, and the Kayak Adventure Camp for older kids.
In 2003, Diane and I started working with David and Katya Allen of ACS and the Harbor Club Wine Committee to develop a high-end wine-themed benefit auction, called ‘Goodtimes for Camp Goodtimes’, which would provide a continuing base of funding for the camp and its associated programs, including now a Cancer Survivor Scholarship Fund to help ensure that they can go on to college even if the family finances are shot, as they so often are.
The ‘Goodtimes for Camp Goodtimes’ event is a gala Spring fundraising auction dinner for about 170 people at the Harbor Club, a private club with five-star dining facilities in the heart of Bellevue. The event theme is ‘Good Friends, Good Food, Good Wine, Good Times’. The intimate setting, world class wines, gourmet dinner and festive crowd provide a wonderful atmosphere and set the stage for an exciting auction evening that typically raises nearly $200,000 for the Camps and the Scholarships. The scholarship program really highlights our theme for these kids of living life and going forward, and we have been delighted with the great response to this program.
The Camp Goodtimes programs complement all the other physical and medical childhood cancer-related programs that ACS supports by addressing the often-overlooked mental and emotional impacts that cancer has on kids. The camps provide a fun, safe and supportive environment that gives these kids a chance to re-develop their self-confidence, spirit of fun and sense of belonging. Good times, happy memories and friends to share with are an important part of anyone’s life, and even more so for these kids in the trials they face. Most kids do, in fact, survive their bouts with cancer, and the positive mental effects of these outdoor programs can help improve both their odds of survival now, and their odds of success later.
