Morning Reflection - Gratitude and Love

Dear Campers, Families and Friends, On this second full day of camp, the skies are grey but the rain has so far held off and our spirits are high!!  With the campers now settled into their groups and camp in full gear, it is imperative to take the time to express our gratitude and love for the phenomenal support of our donors, supporters and friends. There are not adequate words to express how thankful we are. We are truly blessed by the ongoing and committed support of a few important supporters who have allowed us to live of our dream of providing camp, and enable us to provide this amazing opportunity to each of our campers.  Six years into camp and I still cannot believe how lucky I am to work with such a core team of dedicated volunteer staff and to have such tremendous support. This past year we became an independent charitable organization, with a twofold mandate to provide a camp experience, as well as to raise awareness for organ donation and transplantation.  We started out as a camp for children living with organ transplants - heart, kidney, liver, bowel and lung transplants. Over the years we have grown to allow children who are living with kidney, liver, and intestinal failure to attend camp. Camp Kivita is a true testament to the immense success of the field of transplantation and our campers truly exemplify the beautiful gift of life. It is hard not to be awestruck by our campers journeys, and the fortitude and strength of our campers and their families. You inspire us each day. It is because of the instrumental support of each of our supporters that this dream has come true. We thank and acknowledge each of you: To the Citron Family and friends who support us in loving memory of Dr. Ken Citron, and notably to Jeff Citron for his immense and ongoing wisdom and assistance. We thank the Kidney Foundation of Canada for helping us get off the ground and loyal support over the years, and to Paul Martin and KRG Insurance for all your hard work and support. we thank the David Foster Foundation, The Benjamin Walker Foundation; Lou Rocca, David Kornhauser; and the many passionate individuals who have donated, assisted, advocated for us and worked with us this past year. Each of you is instrumental to our success and we wholeheartedly thank each of you. We also share our gratitude and love for our outstanding volunteer team  (we will introduce our 2014 volunteer team in an upcoming post) who are committed to camp and to ensuring your children have the very best possible summer each year, as well as to the AMAZING Camp Wenonah team for embracing us and providing us an incredible camp home. And finally, a huge thank you to our families for allowing us to share this magical journey with your campers!! Rain or shine we have an incredible day full of activities planned!! With gratitude and love, Your in camping, Stacey On behalf of the camp team