Until there is a Cure there is Camp

CAMP HAPPY TIMES for kids who have or have had cancer

[Maplewood, NJ, September 12, 2016) The Valerie Fund's Camp Happy Times, a free one-week overnight camp for children who have or have had cancer is located at the two hundred acre Tyler Hill Camp in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. The week is designed to encourage independence since for many campers ranging in age from 5-21, this is their first time away from home. Nearly 150 campers took home wonderful memories of sleeping in bunks, eating in the dining hall together and having a typical summer camp experience in the Pocono Mountains.
These children, however, are anything but typical. Millie Finkel, Director of Camp Happy Times for more than two decades recites a mantra each season: "I cannot look into the future and change the destinies of any of these kids but I can give them one hell of a week!!"

Returning each summer are more than a dozen counselors who have volunteered ten or more years and another dozen who can count twenty summers spent at Camp Happy Times. Approximately 20 of the 80 volunteers are former campers bringing a very special dimension to their relationships with the children as they recognize their younger selves.
The onsite medical staff is made up of Valerie Fund doctors and nurses who administer chemo and other medications to the campers throughout the week and are available round-the-clock.
Now in its 34th year, Camp Happy Times is fully accredited by the American Camping Association and a proud member of the International Children's Oncology Camping Association. The Valerie Fund covers the cost of everything for these pediatric cancer patients at Camp Happy Times and the cost can run up to $300,000 each summer. To learn more about camp please go to www.thevaleriefund.org/programs/cht/