Camp for kids with cancer celebrates new facilities and donors
Thanks to the community, the camp is years ahead of schedule and Thursday, they celebrated those that helped make it possible.
FAIRFIELD, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) —Hidden Paradise and Camp Rainbow Gold have a lot to celebrate. The camp, located in Fairfield is a special place where kids who are battling cancer can be kids. Thanks to the community, the camp is years ahead of schedule and Thursday, they celebrated those that helped make it possible.
CEO Elizbeth Lizberg says, “This has been a vision for more than 17 years and it has involved so many people from our community that has supported camp rainbow gold over the years. It’s truly an honor and I’m just so full of joy and excitement and it’s truly a fun day. " Seven new buildings and a new amphitheater were just some of the additions. A new medical center means that the camp doesn’t have to turn away campers who need specific care anymore.
Details like the camp moose and the pond named after the project manager painted on the wall help make this an inviting but familiar place with nods to those who helped create it.
Founder Dr. Dave McClusky remembers what it took to take care of the campers in the past and what the new med shack means to hidden paradise.
“So many couldn’t come because of that and now we have such a great facility. Back in the day I was a general surgeon I wasn’t an oncologist so here I was trying to take care of these little kids running into town getting medicine for them. Now it’s so advanced and with my son being a part of it and a doctor too it’s going to be just outstanding,” said Dr. McClusky.
Things like a shower big enough to fit those that need it, and a-d-a compliable buildings make all the difference. Capitol Campaign Director Lonni Leavitt-Barker understands firsthand what this camp and the advancements mean.
Leavitt-Barker says, “My son is special needs and when he was battling cancer, he would get neuropathy in his feet and he wouldn’t walk. He couldn’t walk till he was five and a half and we came to family camp and I literally had to hold him in the cabin unless he was asleep because the floor was kind of a particle board and it was old and it just wasn’t safe for him to be sitting on or crawling around in.”
Thanks to donations and community support campers who arrive this weekend will not only have the benefit of the camp experience- but the comfort of all the upgraded facilities.
“You look at these beautiful new cabins and they didn’t spare any expenses for these kids they’re just beautiful and it’s going to be mind blowing for the kids and the families when they come to camp and see what they have especially if they’re been to camp before and experienced what we had before,” said Leavitt-Barker.
Copyright 2024 KMVT. All rights reserved.
