STEVENSON, Md. — Seven-year-old Jack Eckenrode is having fun in the music room. He’s at the Horizon Day Camp, a free summer camp for children with cancer and their siblings.
Jack has high-risk, B-Cell ALL, a type of leukemia, and it’s in remission. This is the second year he and his sister, Georgia, have come to the camp.
“I remember looking at Jack and thinking, ‘He’s a kid again,’ Jack’s mom, Alex Eckenrode, recalls of his first day at camp. “He was so happy, and he was so tired in the best way possible. He wasn’t tired from medicine. He wasn’t tired from a hospital visit. He was tired from jumping, being with friends, playing tennis, eating ice cream. All of the things that a kid should be doing.”
And that’s the goal of Horizon Day Camp, says camp director Shayna Gruner.
“A lot of times where they’re hearing ‘No,’ they’re pricked, they’re prodded, they’re saying, ‘Hey, you can’t do this, you can’t do that, you can’t go to your friends’ house,” Gruner says. “But here at Horizon, we want everyone to feel that brightness and happiness, that joy.”
The camp offers a full summer program from late June to early August. Around 170 children ages four to 16 from around the state are attending this year’s camp.
Free transportation is also provided, thanks to grants from companies like RCM&D, which gave $10,000 for this summer’s program.
Campers can come on as many days as they want to or feel well enough to.
“Sometimes a child can go for treatment in the morning and then get dropped off in the afternoon,” Gruner says. “Or they might take some time off and then slide right in to the next day.”
The campers rotate between activities on the sprawling campus of St. Timothy’s School in Stevenson. There are pediatric oncology nurses and doctors, and counselors onsite, providing a supportive environment so children of all mobility levels can participate.
“Cancer’s not exclusive,” Gruner says. “It happens to, no matter who you are or where you come from. And everyone has lots of challenges. So, whatever we can do to support, we really want to.”
Horizon also does year-round activities and in-hospital visits. All of it paid for by generous donors and staffed by volunteers.
If you’d like to donate or volunteer, go here.
