Meet our 2023 Camper Ambassador Family!

In the fall of 2019, I received the call very early in the morning, I just knew in my gut it was not going to be good news. The blood test results showed it was either hepatitis or leukemia so we went straight to the ER. After examining her, the official diagnosis was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. This began a very difficult year of treatment where Eden was in and out of the hospital. I remember feeling desperate. As a single parent, I had to rely on friends and relatives to help care for my other two kids while I was at the hospital. Often they were separated not only from me but from each other and Eden, and they felt I had abandoned them too. I was overwhelmed with this heavy load and kept re-assuring Erin and Elam that “Mommy always comes back.”

In the spring of 2021, Eden was doing better. Talia, the child-life specialist at Monte, told us about Sunrise Day Camp in Pearl River. I was thrilled that this camp was being offered free of charge not only to Eden but to her siblings as well. They were very nervous to get on the bus that first day, but they loved it immediately. They cried the last day because they didn’t want it to end. It was an experience I could never have afforded to provide and being able to give this to them helped me not feel “less than.”

This summer will be their third at Sunrise Pearl River and they can’t wait to see all their friends. Eden (now 7) loves prom the best and the special relationship she formed with her counselor, “Blake my Bro.” Elam (age 6) loves color war and his “girlfriend” Mia (last year’s camper ambassador). Erin (age 9) really enjoys singing and dancing and loves the talent show and her music counselor, Cookie. I am so grateful to the donors who make this camp possible for not only my kids but all the others like them who have gone through something similar.

All the love and support really means something.


Read more about Eden and the Echavarria's story here