FOR THE FAMILIES, VOLUNTEERS AND SUPPORTERS OF KIDS CANCER CARE FOUNDATION OF ALBERTA
FALL 2009 Editor: Gail Corbett
KCCFA opens doors to new camp
Unique Perspectives Artistic Photography
at that summer camp. His mother vowed to establish a camp in Alberta, so children wouldn’t have to travel out-of-province to get a much-needed break from the rigours of cancer treatments.
The Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta (KCCFA) found its new home on September 25 when it opened the gate to Camp Kindle. It will be the first specialized cancer camp for children with cancer in Alberta. “This is a dream come true,” said Christine Wandzura, KCCFA CEO. “We have been providing camp experiences for children with can“This is cer for 19 years as a user-group —Christine at other facilities, but we have always dreamed of owing our own camp. Now that dream is a reality.”
For Allan Laudersmith, whose six-year-old son Quinn was diagnosed with a tumour four years ago, Camp Kindle is another gift from an organization he calls phenomenal: “KCCFA got us through the toughest times of our life when we didn’t know which way was up,” says Laudersmith. “It’s nice to have a home away from home.” Situated on 160 acres in the Foothills, Camp Kindle cost the foundation $2.2 million. It features a pond surrounded by rolling pasture and dense forest. It comes loaded with bunkhouses, ” staff and volunteer Wandzura residences, a natural amphitheatre, music hall, craft cottage, rustic get-away cabin, campfire pit and barn. There is ample room to run programs and activities with a baseball diamond, soccer field, horseshoe pits, a pond for canoeing and ice-skating and miles of hiking and x-country ski trails.
Camp & Community Research Clinical Support Scholarship
Inside… On page 6
19 years of camp — in pictures
On page 10
a dream come true
When Christine’s son Derek was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 1986 there were very few services for children with cancer in Alberta. Wandzura arranged to send her son to a cancer camp in British Columbia. Derek spent some of the happiest moments of his short life
Although the camp is fully staffed and ready for children with cancer, the Foundation plans to
Giving back never felt so good
On page 11
KCCFA summer events raised $442K
continued on page 2
www.kidscancercare.ab.ca 1