Chai Lifeline’s first-ever Family Camp Adventure, held this June at Camp Simcha, gave 18 families a welcome and much-needed boost in their fights against pediatric cancer.
Though the children were in different stages of treatment and recovery, parents discovered that the challenges were very similar.
“We didn’t call it a camp,” stated Rabbi Simcha Scholar, “because it wasn’t a camp. It was a chance for families to reconnect with one another and develop their own support system for coping with a child’s cancer treatment.”
Amid the camp activities, parents and children found time for one another and their new friends. “This is the first time we have been able to be a family since my son was diagnosed over a year ago,” a mother admitted. “We came because I wanted my boys to meet other boys whose siblings are sick. Here they are not different from everyone else. And it’s great to meet other parents. When my son got sick, I didn’t know anything. I didn’t have any place to turn to. Now I do.”
{CB Frommer-Matzav.com Newscenter}
