"I want red hair too..." 11 years as a counselor at Camp Sunshine

In 2009, I was asked to do 2 weeks of Camp Sunshine.  I am normally a Teen Week Counselor, but through a weird set of circumstances, I was able to volunteer for the 7-12 year olds.  When I started at Camp in 2003, I did two years of "Junior Week" and then moved up to the teens (But I always missed those little ones.)  So that week I had created a character called "Duct Tape Man" and he would swoop in and save the day with his handy roll of Duct Tape.  I fixed everything from broken mic stands to broken wagons to "broken counselors" :)

Whenever Duct Tape Man wasn't around, I was just "mild" mannered Kappy, the fun loving Ginger Giant.  My cabin of boys were great, they were 10 yrs old and I enjoyed being part of their journey very much.  However, that week at Camp was different, because I connected with a few campers, 2 very special to my heart.

I won't use names, but I had a little girl, bald as a cue ball, that I bonded with.  As the week went on we would always see each other at meals, sing alongs and the such.  Half way through the week, we were sitting on the playground and I asked her about a wig.  She said she wanted one with RED hair and that they are the hardest to get, because no one donates red hair.  Well, at that moment, I started growing my hair out and in 2012 I donated my first 12 inches of glorious ginger locks to Locks of Love.  I have been growing it ever since and this year I will be donating another 12 inches of RED hair to Locks of Love.

The other camper is a young man with a presence 10x that of mine, and a heart that makes mine look like a pea in comparison.  He is loved by all, can dance like no other, and is fighting cancer, tooth and nail.  Camp Sunshine is his happy place, a place where people don't judge his leg braces, they don't judge his disabilities, and they certainly don't judge his smile.  This Camp is the biggest and greatest thing in his life, and I am happy to be a small piece of it.

Out of all the funding that happens for Cancer Research and Programming, only 5%... YES 5%, goes to childhood cancer.  Camp Sunshine is 100% self funded... nothing from the American Cancer Society, nothing from Susan Komen, nothing from anyone... but private donors.  YOU make Camp Sunshine happen.

It costs $1,000 to send a kid to Camp... and there are 10 kids in a cabin... Let's send a Cabin of kids to camp!

Any donation helps.  Stop drinking coffee at Starbucks for 1 week and that is a $20 donation (such a  small thing can do so much).  One date night staying in and donating that is $50 bucks... $100 is a concert that you can pass up for a kid to have a week where they are "normal" in a not so normal world.

Please help these kids go to camp... a camp where cancer can't bring them down, in fact, the hope and joy they get beats Cancer up... This place heals! This place gives life! This place is magical... be part of the magic! 

Please be part of something bigger :)

Welcome to the Army of Happiness.... You are now a Warrior of Cancer!!!

Please donate here: http://bit.ly/kappy2014