Fast friends at camp!

Wednesday Moming Reflection - Gratitude & Appreciation

My Morning Reflection - Gratitude & Appreciation



We are now well into camp, the kids are settled in and today is a special day where we welcome some of our great friends and donors who supported us in so many ways up to camp for a barbeque. As I reflect this morning I cannot help but share my appreciation and gratitude to everyone who has helped bring our dream of camp to life. As I reflect on the past few years, I am amazed that this is our fifth summer offering the camp experience to kids living with organ transplants and organ failure. It has been a remarkable journey for each of us, and it is important that we acknowledge those not only those who have helped make this dream a reality but who have allowed us to grow and improve.

Camp Kivita is fortunate to have the most incredible team of dedicated volunteer nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, and volunteer staff. Each one of our team members is so entirely committed to ensuring that our campers have a safe and fun experience and tirelessly work to support camp throughout the week and beyond. Emily and Christina, who share the Camp Advisory Committee and leadership team work passionately throughout the year on camp and it is wonderful and rewarding for us to share and work together on our camp each year. There are no words to express the awesomeness of our camp team!!!



We are also immensely thankful to our donors and supporters of camp. A very special thank you to the Kidney Foundation of Canada, and to the Citron Family and friends for all you have done to support us. We are grateful for the support and proud to share the memory of Dr. Ken Citron and his work and efforts to promote quality of life after transplantation. Your continued financial support, kindness, encouragement and commitment to camp over the years has allowed us to not only exist, but to thrive and grow and offer camp to more children than ever before.

We are also tremendously grateful to KRG Insurance and Paul Martin, the David Foster Foundation, Doug Ghent Painters, The Benjamin Walker Foundation, Moti Jungreis, and all our generous donors and supporters of camp. So many of my dear friends and family contributed to camp in honor of my birthday this year and I am so thankful, and many of our volunteer staff raised funds for camp in their spare time. Each of our donors and supporters  have shared in our dream of camp for all kids and help to bring the magic of camp to so many wonderful children .

We thank each of you - the parents and caregivers, for entrusting us with your wonderful children..... And to our campers we are thrilled to have you join us on this amazing journey at camp!!!!

With gratitude and appreciation on this beautiful Wednesday morning...
Yours in camping,
Stacey

On behalf of the camp team

Serve & Volley!

A special happy birthday to our good friend!!!!!!!!!!

Celebrating a special birthday!!!!!!! 

 

Happy Birthday to our good friend :)

 

Having fun around camp....

Some pictures from around camp this afternoon.....

 

 

Tie dye fun!

We got our hands nice and dirty while tye dying shirts....

Here are a few pictures of the campers getting paint happy!!

Tuesday Morning Reflection...New Friends, Camp Friends

My Morning Reflection - New Friends, Camp Friends

 

It is Tuesday morning and while the campers are about to rise and embrace a new day, I have been thinking about what aspects of my years as a camper remain with me today. Camp was like my home away from home - the place I learned how to sail, canoe, become a lifeguard; it was where I learned how to make crafty bracelets and pottery, how to sing ridiculous sounding songs and cheer on the top of my lungs because I really wanted my team to win.... it was a place where we are given freedom to try new things, and the independence to explore activities never tried before. But most of all when I reflect on camp it is the new friends made at camp that I hold dearest to me. These friends were both my cabinmates, the older kids who inspired us, and the counsellors who made each camper feel so special. I remain in touch with many of these people today.

 

Camp friends are truly special. Just a few days ago many of us were total strangers, a group of over 60 kids of all ages, from different places, and having different experiences. It does not matter whether we have new hearts, kidneys, livers, bowels, lungs, or whether we live with some form of organ failure. It doesnt matter how many medicines we take, how many scars or scrapes we have. From the moment we all arrive at camp we are truly all the same - one family - one team.

 

At camp friendships can stem in the most unexpected places. Older kids will help younger ones. Younger kids will inspire older kids.  It is not uncommon to see two kids in different groups sitting and chatting, a pat on the shoulder, a high five or an older female camper briading the hair of a younger one. Our older campers have the opportunity to take on leadership roles - sometimes without even realizing it. I have seen a teenage boy sitting down next to a younger child and talking to him about what he tried. Kids of all ages will sit around a table and play cards. Kids who were strangers a few days back will sit around a camp fire and tell stories, share experiences, and come up with silly yet awesome songs, chants, and cheers.

And when we leave camp on the last day, we will exchange numbers and emails, shed tears of sadness and joy, and carry together the bond of being united in our shared camp experience with our new friends for life.

Its going to be a wonderful day!
Yours in camping,
Stacey

On behaf of the camp team