The Beginning of Summer 2023

Jul. 7th, 2023 10:14 am

As July comes around the corner, we head into our 44^th summer of providing camping programs to children, families, and adults affected by cancer or sickle cell anemia. Moving into the camp season, we are adapting and adjusting to our new normal coming out of the COVID pandemic with a mix of anxiety and excitement. We have just completed our two weeks of staff training, wherein our summer staff went through lifeguard, CPR and First Aid training, practiced all kinds of camp songs, and prepared all different fun activities for this summer’s campers! Even though we have fewer summer staff than in previous years, after having met each of them, I am very confident that our campers are in good hands.

In addition to staff training, we also kicked off our first T.I.P.S. event of the year on Thursday, June 29^th at the Willie Walker Lightfoot Recreation Center on Flint Street. T.I.P.S. stands for Trust, Information, Programs, and Services and includes community agencies and law enforcement personnel working in selected neighborhoods to rebuild trust among residents and share information. We were apprehensive about hosting the event at first, due to the air quality, but after consulting with Rochester Public Safety and the University of Rochester we received the OK to continue with the event and provided masks to anyone who might need/want one. It was an especially successful event for me because we were able to provide members of the Rochester community with needed resources to create safter neighborhoods for our children to grow up in. It meant so much to me to see the Rochester community that I grew up in coming together for a greater purpose. We will continue the summer with two more of these events around Rochester. More information can be found on our social media accounts as well as our website.

Speaking of what is to come in the summer, we are all so excited for this year’s summer camping season to begin and for our campers to arrive! This time of year always brings me back to when I started Camp Good Days. While it is amazing that after 44 years, we have been able to expand and help so many different populations in more ways than camp, like our year-round programming, it is nice to come back to our roots each summer to provide residential camping programs for those that need a little more fun in their lives. July 7^th marks the beginning of the camping season with our Young Adult Retreat. As a brand-new program to Camp Good Days, we have partnered with 13thirty, and Roswell Park to provide a weekend retreat for adults ages 18-35 who have been diagnosed with cancer. We are very excited to have over 50 people attend this retreat. What a way to kick off the summer!

 

*We are always looking for a few good men and women to help us in providing good days and special times to those impacted by cancer or sickle cell anemia. If you or someone you know is interested in dedicating some of their time to Camp Good Days please visit our volunteer page for more information.