We Love Our Volunteers

“Volunteers are the only human beings on the face of the earth who reflect this nation’s compassion, unselfish caring, patience, and just plain loving each other,” – Erma Bombeck.

Let’s face it: Camp wouldn’t be fun without great volunteers. They make learning easy. They challenge, while inspiring. They soothe with a Band-Aid and a smile. They teach while being goofy. They make sure blood sugars are in check and carbs are curbed.

And so with the camp season coming to the end, staff at the American Diabetes Association’s camps Aurora and New Horizons, would like to thank all of its volunteers for serving the 350 campers and their families this summer.

Many of the volunteers took time from their clinics, faculty functions and used vacation days to help kids with diabetes learn to manage the disease.  Thank you donating your time to a great cause. ADA camps improve diabetes management skills, lower diabetes-related stress,  and make kids with diabetes feel normal again. Thank you for being a part of the program that has impacted so many lives.

“Volunteers are a vital part of the American Diabetes Association’s camping program,” said Sherry Hill, Regional Director – Camps for the ADA. “We could not provide the quality program without them.”

A special thanks to camp directors, Lynn Bruns (Camp New Horizons North), Val Sanders (Camp New Horizons South), Kelli Goree and Brenda Sonnier (Camp Aurora.) Also thanks to medical partners Children’s Health, Cook Children’s Endocrinology and Diabetes Clinics, and Texas Tech School of Pharmacy – Dallas Campus. And thank you to the  Lions Club District 2-X1 and a host of other healthcare and community volunteers.

Elizabeth Andrew said it best, “Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.” 

So thank you for your heart!

Keeping it Cool at Camp!

Third and Last Week of Camp Highlights

This week marks the last of the American Diabetes Association’s day camp for kids with diabetes. Take a look at how much learning and fun they are having!

Check out keeping it cool at camp!

Check out our Facebook page for more great pictures.

Diabetes Campers Learn Life Skills While Having Fun

Our Camp Horizons kids love to have fun! And the best part is they are learning life skills like how to count carbs and to read their glucometer. Our last day camp is set for next week in Fort Worth. Check out all the pics!

Turn Your Photos into Donations for Diabetes Camp

New! Turn Your Photos into Donations for Diabetes Camp

What if a snapshot could help us host more children with diabetes at our life-changing summer camps? Well, now it can!

Now through June 20, the American Diabetes Association’s Diabetes Camps are among the many worthy causes supported by the Donate a Photo app, from Johnson & Johnson. Donate a Photo turns an action people take every day—snapping personal photos and sharing them to social media—into a way to do good. For every photo you share through Donate a Photo, Johnson & Johnson gives $1 to the cause of your choice.

Our goal is to garner enough photos to help 33 kids, and it takes 1,496 photos to send one child to Diabetes Camp . . . so we welcome everyone to participate!

How it Works:
Note: You will need to create an account with the app. You may donate one photo per day.

1. Download the free Donate a Photo app from the iTunes App Store and on Google Play.
2. Select a cause (us!).
3. Take a photo or select one from your phone.
4. Donate your photo to the gallery.
5. Share your image to Facebook or Twitter to further promote our cause! Follow #DonateaPhoto to view the thousands of images that people have donated to the Association and other nonprofits.

Thank you for donating your photos and for promoting through your personal and professional social media accounts.

If you have any questions about this collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, please contact Judy Lewis, Director, Corporate Alliances, at jlewis@diabetes.org or ext. 1416, or Anna Baker, Director, Digital Engagement, at anbaker@diabetes.org or ext. 2090.

Fundraiser for ADA Camp Aurora – Thank YOU!

Staff at Texas Health Azle Hospital donated household items and furniture or a great cause.  Texas Health Azle held a Fundraiser and Rummage Sale for the American Diabetes Association’s Camp Aurora on April 9, 2016 in the hospital parking lot where employees volunteered their time-off (reimbursed by Texas Health Resources for their volunteer time).  The team lead by Michelle Hopper of the Endoscopy Department, placed an ad in the local newspaper which read, “Texas Health Azle Rummage Sale, all proceeds benefit children attending American Diabetes Camp Aurora.”

Thanks to employees and everyone for donating, volunteering, shopping or stopping by the Rummage Sale this past weekend.  The pictures show how much fun was had – there was even dancing!  We raised over $1,200 to send children with diabetes to Camp Aurora, where they can have an exciting week of outdoor activities while learning valuable lessons on positive diabetes management.   A check was presented to Sherry Hill, Texas Region – Camp Director of the American Diabetes Association on May 25^th.  It was a success and the staff is considering making it an annual event.

Summer Camp Volunteers

Each summer we look for a team of volunteers to help staff our summer day camps for children affected by diabetes.  These teams consist of counselors, camp nurses, arts and crafts helpers, sports and recreation coordinators, dietitians, special activities leaders, and much more!  If you are interested in making our summer camps a fun and safe place for youth to meet friends, learn to manage diabetes and become great community leaders, then we need you! If the following time commitments do not work with your schedule please contact a Sherry Hill to see how you can still get involved.

 

Camp New Horizons North

June 13-17, 2016  |  8:30am – 3:30pm

Cross Creek Ranch

3406 Dublin Rd., Parker, Texas

 

Camp New Horizons South

June 20-24, 2016  |  8:30am – 3:30pm

Southern Cross Ranch

1800 W. Dowdy Ferry Rd., Dallas, Texas

 

Camp Aurora

June 27 – July 1, 2016  |  8:30am – 3:30pm

YMCA Camp Carter

6200 Sand Springs Rd., Ft. Worth, Texas

ADA’s Camp for Kids

From paddle boats to balloon races to good old fashioned swimming, kids all over the Metroplex learned to control their diabetes while having fun and with others like themselves. And we have the pictures to prove it!

Camp New Horizons North Fun!

Kids splashed around this week keeping cool from the heat at ADA’s camp for kids with diabetes called Camp New Horizons North. Kids ages 5 and up learn to manage their diabetes by checking their own blood sugar and monitoring their glucose intake. They learn about nutrition and eating healthy all in a fun atmosphere and with other kids like them. Check out some more photos!

American Diabetes Association’s Camp for Kids Going Strong

 

 

 

 

By: Intern Kimberly Rojas

For three weeks every summer children with diabetes from ages 4 to 12 come to the ADA’s day camps.

This year is the Camp New Horizon’s 30th anniversary and there were 55 children in attendance last week at Camp New Horizons South, located in Dallas, Texas at The Southern Cross Ranch, 1800 W. Dowdy Ferry Road.

Pam Jurlina and Joan Colgin have been volunteering at Camp New Horizons since it opened in 1984. Both Pam and Joan are registered nurses and certified diabetes educators.

At camp the kids stay active and there is something to appeal to everyone, such as swimming, music, volleyball, arts and crafts, and many more activities. There is also a diabetes education class once a day where the kids get to participate in activities that teach them strategies to deal with their diabetes. For example, learning to categorize good foods and bad foods and how to recognize if their blood sugar is low.

For some of the kids at camp it is their first time being around other kids who have diabetes, and their first time seeing others have to deal with the same things they do every day. Val Sanders, who has been camp director for 6 years and a part of the program for 16 years, loves seeing newly diagnosed kids who are still afraid come to camp for their first time. Being surrounded by kids who also have to be conscious about their blood sugar reassures first timers that they are not alone.

Joy, a camp counselor and her 11-year-old son, Brant, a camper both attended Camp New Horizons South. Brant was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 3 and has been coming to camp ever since then.

“My favorite thing about camp is that he can come here and feel normal. All the kids are getting stuck with needles and monitoring their blood sugar throughout the day, so he doesn’t stand out like he does at school,” said Joy.

Hannah, 11, has two younger brothers who are also in the program. Hannah plans on becoming a counselor at the camp when she is old enough. Hannah also loves spending time with the medical staff, including nurse practitioners and physicians who are on site at all times monitoring blood sugars and administering insulin shots when needed.

Jim, a nurse practitioner from Children’s Medical Center of Dallas who also has diabetes, says his favorite part of camp is “being able to see the kids outside the doctor’s office where they are in a different environment that they can have fun and be themselves in.”

Rojas is interning this summer at the American Diabetes Association North Texas office.

Camp New Horizons Rocks!