Smile-A-Mile

Category: 2023 Camp Photo
Name of Entry: “Full Circle Moment”
Contact Name: Ellie Barrentine
Contact Phone: 2053238427
Entry Background/Description: Our Smile-A-Mile focus this year has been on full circle moments with our families. It is our goal to be an integral part of our families’ lives from the earliest days of diagnosis. We have volunteers who feel the same, and, thus, we have many counselors who have been volunteering with us for years. Our “Full Circle Moment” photo is a great example. On the left you see a college-age counselor. He is holding a baby who is in the midst of his pediatric cancer journey. This baby is too young to attend an independent camp, so he is attending a Family Camp. Fast forward 8 years. The counselor and the camper are back at camp together. This time, they are experiencing all the fun of Youth Camp. This is the first time this camper has come to camp by himself because his parents have been nervous to send him. As you see, he is having the time of his life! The counselor is now a Nurse Practitioner helping patients of his own. They are together, once again, to enjoy all the fun camp has to offer.