Fall 2022 Newsletter

PRIOR SORRELLS, PRESIDENT AND CEO

The health and safety of our campers has always been a priority at Camp For All, not just since the pandemic. As a result, I am proud to report that with protocols in place, the majority of our camps this summer were free from positive tests and the campers had so much fun they didn’t want to leave. Yes, many of the nonprofits we work with, especially the hospitals, were understandably nervous for their patients, but working together we made the magic happen and our campers and staff were safe. We continue to be innovative in creating a safe and barrier-free environment and none of that would be possible without your generous support.

Mickey’s house is a dreamland of fun! Camp For All is a dreamland, too! But, for our campers it is much more. They find hope, grow in self-confidence and sur rounded by peers with similar challenges,

they realize they are not alone. At Camp For All, fun is what happens when we ac complish our mission.

MISSION

Camp For All transforms the world for children and adults with challenging illnesses or special needs.

From The Chair

For more than 20 years, I have attended Camp For All, yet there has been no better feeling than being able to return to camp this year, after the long ever-changing global pandemic. The medical needs of the children that we serve often means that families isolate a little longer and take more precautions than most. Camp this year was as memorable and full of life as ever. Campers were able to experience all of the barrier-free activities that they have grown to love and long for when they are away, in an environment that accounted for the continuation of COVID-19 safety protocols.

As a Pediatric Nephrologist, I am often tasked with informing patients of their limitations. Camp For All inclusivity and ingenuity often removes these limitations, while promoting the participants to engage in new experiences, and challenging themselves in ways that they may have never thought possible.

SAMUELS, M.D., CAMP FOR ALL BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR

“I’ve been a camper for 11 years!!

“I been going here since I was 8 years old it’s a wonderful experience you get to go outside your boundaries and experience things you wouldn’t try!”

– BRIANNA GARCIA

Camp For All is the best place on Earth and as a kid with a disability, there’s not a better feeling than going somewhere where people understand you and love you for who you are. There’s no place like home, and Camp is my home!”

– ERIKA ROBERTS

informative, really paid attention,

listened.

“It is an amazing place for kids! The staff here are magical, they have the patience of angels! My daughter has CP and when she comes here, she gets to do everything any other kid does at camp! We love this place!!”

“This is the best camp! I’m a former Camp Hope counselor and set my Amazon Smile to Camp For All a few months ago. Y’all do incredible work! Happy to support such a great cause.”

PAT PRIOR SORRELLS, PRESIDENT AND CEO

PAT

JOSHUA

“Camp For All is better than Disney World!” We’ve heard this over and over for nearly 30 years from our campers with challenging illnesses or special needs!

After two limited years, we were excited to hear it again, this summer!

JOSHUA SAMUELS, M.D., CAMP FOR ALL BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIR

Camp For All staff, board members and PARTNERS should all be proud of the difference that we are making in the lives of these children and their families.

“When they say Camp For All they truly mean for ALL!! We truly appreciate all the staff there and enjoyed our time there.”

– CAROLYN PIPPINS

– ADRIANA GODOY

“The counselors were great to talk to,

and

They were also very fun from the morning energizers to the S’mores dance “party” at night!”

Find your Camp!

For JOY Children with learning differences The Joy School who attend The Joy School

March 3-5 Camp Most Teens and young adults ages 14-21 with Easterseals Greater Houston cerebral palsy or similar neurological disorders

March 3-5 Cell A Bration - Next Level Teenagers ages 15-19 with sickle cell disease

Sickle Cell Association of Austin Marc Thomas Foundation

March 10-12 Shining Stars Family Camp Families that have a child with kidney disease Kidney Kamp Foundation

March 29 Camp S.M.I.L.E. Day Camp Children with autism spectrum disorder The Westview School

March 29-31 Camp S.M.I.L.E. Children with autism spectrum disorder The Westview School

April 12-14 MADE Houston Children with learning differences MADE Houston

April 14-16 Periwinkle Family Camp Patients ages 5-16 treated at The Periwinkle Foundation Texas Children’s Cancer Center and their families

April 14-16 Periwinkle YOLO Patients ages 13-18 treated at TCH and their siblings The Periwinkle Foundation

April 16 Camp LIFE Day Camp Children and adults with any disability Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University

April 20-21 Monarch Butterfly Children with neurological differences The Monarch School

April 21- 23

Camp Survived It All Children and teens with gastrointestinal diseases Texas Children’s Hospital

April 21-22 Capitol School of Austin School for children with communication challenges Capitol School of Austin Family Camp

April 28-30

Be An Angel Families that have a child with special needs Be An Angel

May 4-7 Higher Ground Retreat Adults with brain injuries Texas District of Pilot International

May 11-12 The Parish School Children with communication delays The Parish School and learning differences

TBD Monarch Chrysalis Children with neurological differences The Monarch School

TBD Down Syndrome Camp Youth with down syndrome Down Syndrome Association

May 25-28 Camp Janus Children with burns Camp Janus

May 28-June 2 Camp Bayou Bruisers Children with hemophilia The Louisiana Hemophilia Foundation

Date TBD Monarch Butterfly Children with neurological differences The Monarch School

Date TBD Camp Sunrise Teens with intellectual and developmental disorders Briarwood Tuttle School

June 4-9

June 11-16

June 18-23

MDA Summer Camp Children with neuromuscular disease Muscular Dystrophy Association

Camp Spike N Wave Children with epilepsy Epilepsy Foundation of Texas Houston /Dallas/Fort Worth

Camp Star Trails Children with cancer and blood disorders MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital

June 25-30 Rainbow Connection Children and teens with cancer Childhood Cancer Connection June 25-30 Camp Dreamcatcher Children with cancer McLane Children’s Medical Center July 2-7 Camp That Love Built Children and adults with spina bifida Spina Bifida Association of Houston July 2-7 Camp Smiles Children with cerebral palsy or Easterseals Greater Houston similar neurological disorders

July 9-14 Camp PHEver Children and teens with phenylketonuria (PKU) University of Texas Health Science Center July 9-14 Camp Social Superheros Children with communication delays The Parish School and learning differences July 16-21 Camp Shining Stars Children with kidney disease Kidney Kamp Foundation Date TBD Camp Hope Children with HIV or AIDS AIDS Foundation Houston July 23-28 Camp Champions Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities The ARC Harris County July 20-Aug 4 Camp Periwinkle Children with cancer and their siblings The Periwinkle Foundation Aug 6-11 Camp Cell-A-Bration Children with sickle cell disease Sickle Cell Association of Austin Marc Thomas Foundation Aug 6-11 Camp Discovery Texas Children with chronic skin conditions American Academy of Dermatology

The following conversation was

Allen: Welcome everybody and thank you for joining us for another Fireside Chat. Periwinkle’s mission is realized through a continuum of camps, arts, and survivor programs which accom pany a child and their family from diagnosis, through treatment, and into remission. This is truly re markable, and we are so grateful for the partnership.

Multiple camps from The Periwin kle Foundation are hosted annually at Camp For All and we look forward to their visits each year!

Doug: Thanks for the invitation, Allen. We are very grateful for the partnership we have with Camp For All and we are very excited to be at Camp this year.

Allen: Doug, if you would, please tell us tell us about the partnership between Camp For All and The Peri winkle Foundation. What that looks like and how we partner together.

Doug: I think it’s a very collaborative partnership. Camp Periwinkle is kind of “Camp on steroids”, as it’s been re ferred to. You and the Camp For All team really do a great job stepping up to make that happen.

One of our Advisory Board mem bers of Dr. Carlos Rivera said to me when I was interviewing 12 years ago, he said, “Doug, Camp Periwinkle is special and it’s that way by design. His expectation is that it would always be that way and he said to me, and I will never forget it that for some kids this is their first camp and for some kids it’s their last camp. That kind of

set the bar; it’s set the bar with me personally as an Executive Director to make sure that we keep that same level of excellence with that camp and with all our programs and the team, Larry Geiger, and so forth have done a tremendous job of doing that. In collaborating, we bring in a lot of stuff and a lot of people. A number of vol unteers work hand in hand with the staff at Camp For All to help facilitate the activities. Very important for the experience! Allen, you and obviously Pat know the organization Periwin kle inside and out and so having that knowledge and expertise and making sure that it’s conveyed to your team has really enabled us to provide that magical experience. For the next year it’ll be 39 years for the foundation and then 40 the following so it’s a great partnership and I think we both have a lot of re sponsibility to touch these kids’ lives and have been providing the platform to do it, and we thank you.

Allen: It is such an amazing thing to be able to see the campers come out. You work year-round to provide all these different programs, and it’s all leading up to this one time where they get to come and be at Camp and make connections with other kids

ilies that are going through similar life circumstances. Doug, you’re always here whenever the kids arrive. You are very engaged and I love that we get that from you.

I think it’s just the power of Camp as we provide campers different bar rier-free opportunities. There are so many different opportunities to con nect with something that they may have been disconnected from before because of their treatment. A lot of emphasis gets put on the camper, the child that’s going through treatment, and I think a great thing that the Per iwinkle Foundation does is it involves the entire family. These situations im pact the entire family.

Camp For All and The Periwinkle Foundation have a long and close part

nership of nearly 30 years, and we are so grateful for that and excited for the future. Thank you, Doug and the rest of the Periwinkle family for helping our campers to discover life.

DOUG SUGGITT

CAMP FOR ALL GOES

OVER THE EDGE 2022

ROOFTOP SPONSOR: The Howard Hughes Corporation

FUNDS RAISED:

On Saturday, April 23rd, Camp For All hosted its annual Over The Edge event. Funds raised at Over The Edge will help Camp For All welcome nearly 9,000 campers annually.

52 charitable daredevils rappelled down the 31-story Woodlands® Tower throughout the day and raised more than $160,000 for Camp For All. Friends, family, and community members cheered on the participants from the terrace and greeted them upon landing. The “landing zone” also included a pop-up market that celebrated the talents of local adults with disabilities hosted by the Camp For All Emerging Leaders.Vendors included Aspire Accessories, Jessie’s Bites and The Monarch School. Camp supporters enjoyed the warm spring weather on the terrace listening to music while they shopped and watched the rappellers.

“Over The Edge encompasses the adventurous spirit of Camp, bringing the same confidence-building experience to Houston,” said Pat Prior Sorrells, President and CEO of Camp For All. “We are very grateful for our supporters and partners who directly make an impact on campers’ lives by participating in yearly fundraisers like Over The Edge.”

On October 13th, Camp For All hosted its annual fall gala, Aloha!

An Evening in Paradise raised a record breaking total of $340,000.

Gala Co-Chairs, Sue Anderson and Kathy Steffen, and Auction Chair, Marita Mikeska hosted the evening, and featured Camper, Mayra Delacruz sharing touching and uplifting stories about her experiences at Camp For All.

ALOHA CO-CHAIRS: Sue Anderson and Kathy Steffen

AUCTION CHAIR: Marita Mikeska

HONOREES: Sunny and Tee Dippel and Brenham National Bank

FUNDS RAISED: $340,000

“When I express that Camp For All has been a life changing experience I’m not saying it lightly. Thanks to them I discovered my purpose in life,” said Mayra. “I would like to once again thank the many donors who have made this dream possible for not only myself, but for the past, present, and future generations of people with diverse disabilities. Your donations are what keep the dreams at Camp For All alive and beautiful.”

The evening honored Sunny and Tee Dippel and Brenham National Bank for their dedication to Camp For All. Camp For All could not transform the world without YOU!

To purchase a table or learn more visit  www.campforall.org/events

Camp For All 30th Anniversary Gala

DATE: Saturday, January 21, 2023

LOCATION: The Revaire

CO-CHAIRS: Laurie and Chris Baker

Debra and Steve Gilbreath

We cannot believe it’s been almost 30 years of transforming the lives of our campers! Join us on January 21, 2023 for our 30th Anniversary Gala, as we celebrate the past, present and future of Camp For All! This year we are thrilled to spotlight the evening’s honorees, Martha and Buzz White and Patrick Samuels, for their passionate support of Camp For All throughout the years.

To everyone who has helped make Camp what it is today, we thank you and we look forward to celebrating with all of you. We hope you can join us!

CAMP FOR ALL NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT TO SERVE OUR CAMPERS.

Every gift makes a huge impact on the lives of children and adults with special needs or challenging illnesses and their families. We are honored by the generosity of the compassionate and dedicated family of donors who make Camp For All possible with their kind support.

MAKE A GIFT

To give a gift by credit card, visit www.campforall.org/ donate. You can also send a check to:

Camp For All 3701 Kirby Drive, #570 Houston, Texas 77098

SPECIAL TRIBUTE

If you would like to make a gift in honor or in memory of a friend or loved one, please let us know who should be notified about this special tribute.

MORE INFORMATION

MONTHLY GIVING

Monthly donors are our “Energizers” each month! Visit www.campforall. org/donate to set up your monthly or quarterly gift of $10, $25 or $50. You can stop any time you need to.

MATCHING GIFTS

Many employers will match your contributions to Camp For All. If you need supporting documentation to complete the match, please contact Serjio Brereda at sbrereda@campforall.org.

LEGACY GIVING

Leave Your Legacy for Camp For All. Including Camp For All in your will can give the gift of joy, belonging and fun to thousands of campers, long after you are gone.

If you have already planned a gift or designated Camp For All as a beneficiary in a life insurance policy or retirement account such as a 401k, or if you would like to make a gift of stock or talk to someone about a gift, please contact Development Director Mary Beth Mosley at 346-440-3036 or mmosley@campforall.org.