USD Magazine, Fall 2004

"We need more me

r some rer on. we seem to get lots of women. bot these

kids need rnal

s such a rewarding place to volunteer. b

y re still corning back."

these kids were eight and

eight yea s ago. a lo

- Phong Vo

T he camp is far enough fro,,m bo th San D iego and Los Angeles co feel like a jour– ney, yet dose enough that, in an emergency, one could be quickly whisked via helicop– ter co a hospital. And at Camp onald McDonald fo r Good Times, there are occasions when chat helicop er is needed. T his is a camp for kids with cancer, and while the mission here is co foc us on the kid rather than the illness can cer is a rapacious companion. Bue on chis scorching morning in mid– Augusc, there's no need for the helicopter. The sun is sh ining, che thunderheads are providing spectacular formations - but just a few d rops of moisture - and e shoucs of elation coming from the archery course indicate chat a lease one happy camper has hie a bull's-eye. The sounds fie che setting as if they were scripted - and in a very real sense, they were. When yo u've got more than a hundred kids attending camp, planning is essential. Each day is carefully plotted, with two– hour time sloes allocated for activities li ke swimming, fishing, crafrs and talent show preparation. <£amp counselors and direc– tors are plenuiful, standi g by and weigh-

ing whether to offer help co their young charges or co urge chem co dig deep into their own resources and meet che many chal enges ch kids face in a given day. (l)f course, compared co the stress of dealing with cancer, figuring out what to do with your fish once you've caught it is a welcome dilemma. "When these kids come co camp, they ha e no expectation chat they can swim or ride a horse," explains Oarol

m nths after leaving camJ'. Whi e there are plenry who come bac'k to camp year after year, not all of thG:m are so lucky. "For many of our kids, the e is no next summer," Horvitz says.

Aces and Froggers Bears, Oh My There are core staff members who keep the facilities of Camp Ronald cDonald

Horvitz, the organization's execu– tive di rector, a tiny woman wl\o overflows with energy even when standing still. "There's

edical term, anhedonia, chat means a person has lost the capaciry co feel pleasure. We did a questionnaire - a dep ression index - before th kids went co camp, then whe they left camp, and four months lacer. " It t rns out chat the kids' abili co feel pleasure and happiness lingered

machi e, but all the coun– selors, all the doctors, all di