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APPLING, Ga. () – Camp Rainbow is a summer camp for children who have cancer and their siblings to have fun in a medically safe environment.
Camp Rainbow celebrating its 40th birthday with the annual camp dance.
WellStar Children’s Hospital of Georgia hosts this camp each year at Camp Lakeside.
Kym Allen, Child and Adolescent Services at WellStar Children’s Hospital of Georgia & Camp Director, explains more about Camp Rainbow.
“They get to take a week, come out to camp and we hope that they forget about clinics, and appointments and lab work and all that kind of stuff and just have fun and be a kid,” said Allen.
The nurses that the kids are familiar with join them at camp so they can administer medical care, chemotherapy, or anything the child needs so the parents can have a peace of mind.
The patients are able to do many activities such as learn archery, kayak, zipline, or go on a rock wall.
Allen says it’s important for these kids to be able to get outside and have these experiences.
“A lot of times when kids get diagnosed they get taken out of school, they can’t go to Target, they can’t go to the mall, so to be able to come here and meet friends who have cancer, who have been through cancer it gives them a feeling of normalcy,” Allen said.
She tells me her favorite part of the entire week is being able to see kids do activities they never thought they could do.
“I see them when they’re really sick, I see them when they get diagnosed, I see them when they’re really not feeling like doing anything like playing with Legos or playing a game of UNO, and then they come out here and all of a sudden they’re running around, swimming and playing basketball, playing disc golf,” said Allen.
The camp wraps up on Friday.
