"Our life's journey is really about the people that touch us." --Stuart Scott
I'm so thankful that you've taken the time to visit my AuroraWALKS 2024 fundraising page. As you may know, I have had the unbelievable pleasure of holding my dream job with Aurora Day Camp (Georgia's only full-summer day camp for children with cancer and their siblings, offered 100% free of charge to all families) for FIVE years now. During this time, I've met the most incredible families, kids, counselors, medical team members, donors, and supporters of all kinds, all of whom have a common goal - give the joys of summer back to children with cancer.
Over the years, I have worked side by side with the best people I know to change the dinner table conversations. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, absolutely everything changes. Parents have to leave their jobs, siblings get shuffled around from place to place, and the diagnosed child is poked and prodded at countless appointments for years on end. But thanks to Aurora Day Camp, these families have the opportunity to shift the narrative. Instead of spending dinners talking about chemo, ports, and hair loss, these families get to talk about archery, painting, dancing, and learning new camp songs! We are so grateful to be able to walk alongside our families in the most challenging battles of their lives and to give them back the joy that is a right of childhood.
Aurora Day Camp is a huge blessing to these families, but we would not be able to do it without the support of our community. Because Aurora is offered 100% free of charge to all families, all the time, we are extremely dependent on the generosity of donors just like you in order to keep our doors open. It costs $6,000 to send one child to camp for the summer. This year, AuroraWALKS needs to raise a whopping $225,000 to ensure that we continue to be able to provide free camp for as long as the phrase "your child has been diagnosed with cancer" exists.
Because of this, I am determined to raise at least $5,000, in honor of my five wonderful years with this incredible organization.
While your connection to Aurora Day Camp and the pediatric cancer world is probably not exactly like mine (or may not exist at all), I nonetheless encourage you to consider supporting these wonderful kids. When you make a donation of any size, you directly impact our camp and in-hospital programs. You fight for these kids to have a carefree, safe, and fun summer together with their siblings in the midst of scary diagnoses, hospital visits, surgeries, and chemo treatments. You enable Aurora Day Camp to continue to be there to support the pediatric cancer families of Atlanta for years to come.
Whether or not you choose to give, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this and understand my passion for these kids and all that Aurora Day Camp does for our sweet families. Our families deserve a cure, but until there's a cure, there will be camp.
Take a moment to watch our powerful, touching video below, where camper families share the impact of Aurora Day Camp. Dre, one of my absolute favorite superheroes who is featured in the video, is pictured in my cover photo collage at the top of this page.
Thank you for helping me give summer back to children with cancer.
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