Featured Charity: The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp

Serving more than 20,000 children annually, see how this week’s Featured Charity is helping seriously ill children and their families throughout the Northeast – free of charge.

Dedicated to providing “a different kind of healing” to seriously ill children and their families throughout the Northeast, in this week’s Featured Charity Blog we discover what need The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp is addressing, what they hope to achieve and how they plan to do it, and what you can do to help them.

What need does The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp address?

Serious illness can be incredibly isolating for the children and families impacted. Oftentimes, life becomes a whirlwind of doctor appointments, hospital visits, missed school and the inability to participate in “normal” kid activities like playing with friends, participating in sports or attending summer camp. At The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, we provide kids a special hideout where they can escape their illness and just be kids, sharing “a different kind of healing” with other children going through the same challenges they are.    

What do you hope to achieve?     

The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp works to ensure that every child with a serious medical condition has the chance to experience the world of possibilities that camp has to offer. It was founded with the simple premise in mind that every child, no matter their illness, could experience the transformational spirit and friendships that go hand-in-hand with camp. Our community celebrates fun, friendship and the spirit of childhood. 

How are you making this happen?   

Through summer sessions and family weekend programs at the Camp in Ashford, Conn., and year-round outreach to 25 hospitals and clinics throughout the Northeast, the Camp serves more than 20,000 children and family members annually. All services are free of charge thanks to the support of a broad community of donors.

Whether individuals provide support through workplace giving, as part of our Campfire Partners monthly giving program, or organizing their own fundraising event to benefit Camp, or companies teaming up with The Hole in the Wall Camp by doing everything from holding “Jeans Days” at work to raise funds or organizing riding and running teams for our Team Hole in the Wall events, our generous donors are vital to our mission of bringing joy to children with cancer, sickle cell anemia, HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses. 

What accomplishments have helped advance your mission so far?      

These past 25 years have been an amazing journey for the Camp, which was founded by Paul Newman in 1988. Today, we primarily serve campers with sickle cell anemia (about a third of our campers), cancer (about a quarter of our campers) and immunologic disorders (about 10 percent of our campers). More than half of our campers are from low-income families, so it is critical our services remain free of charge, to ensure access for all campers who need them.

We maintain a 5-star rating on Guidestar and a 3-star rating on Charity Navigator. Additionally, 78 percent of our funding is put towards programming.

Looking ahead, we plan to expand our offerings to deepen the experience of those campers we already serve and reach an even greater number of campers. To do this, we will be launching the Camp in the Community program, which brings a tricked out van of Camp activities right to campers in their hometowns. We will also be expanding our Hospital Outreach Program into Philadelphia. Our goal is to reach more than 30,000 children and families annually by 2018.

Learn more and connect with The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp!

Web Site: www.holeinthewallgang.org

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