by Barbara MacAdam January 31, 2022 3 min read
Every year at PurpleWishingGate.com we select a non-profit organization to donate 10% of our proceeds to. We are thrilled to renew our commitment by partnering with “Camp Can Do” for the year 2022. We are proud to be a company that donates when you buy one of our gifts that bless and inspire.
Some relevant collections include Son & Daughter and Baptism.
Founded in 1983, Camp Can Do is an over-night campground designed for children who have been diagnosed with cancer in the last 5 years. They are a non-profit organization founded on the principle that every child should be free to be a kid, especially those with cancer.
It’s located in the beautiful Gretna Glen Camp & Retreat Center in Mt. Gretna, PA and sits on over 200 acres of scenic hills and woodlands just east of Hershey, PA.
In 2014 one of its primary founders, the American Cancer Society, shifted its focus to cancer research and withdrew its financial commitment to Camp Can Do. So, the volunteer staff – many of whom are cancer survivors themselves – took on the herculean task of managing the camp’s summer sessions.
Their continued existence depends on being able to raise the monies needed for rental of the Gretna Glen Camp facilities, food, supplies, insurance, and transportation.
We’ve chosen to dedicate our charitable funds to Camp Can Do because it holds a very special place in my heart. Shortly before my beautiful Bonnie Rose passed away, she begged me to go to Camp Can Do. A wonderful place she’d heard about from other children while getting her treatments at Memorial Sloan Kettering in NY.
My first inclination was to “keep her safe with me,” especially since I wanted to soak up every minute of time that I had left with her. We knew at that time; her cancer was not curable.
However, with childlike innocence and expectation, she looked at me with those beautiful, big brown doe eyes and pleated her case by saying, “Mom, I just want to feel normal… please!”
It was in that moment I knew I had to put my selfish needs aside, and that this one act of selfless love would be my greatest gift to her. And my last. And so, she went… for two glorious weeks of FUN, Fishing, Swimming, Boating, Biking, Ceramics, and her favorite pastime - MUSIC!
In hindsight, there was something very cathartic about those two weeks. I remember feeling oddly calm with a sense of peace, knowing that she was happier than she’d been in over 2 years, and safe in the care of the many volunteer doctors, nurses, social workers, lab technicians and more. She was tucked away in this magical bubble, a world within the real world where she was free to be herself, have fun, and just forget about everything else.
It was for me, a taste of what I believed “heaven” would be like for her – and hopefully a fraction of some peace I would soon need after she was gone. In retrospect, I am so grateful for this place, and want nothing more than to help other children and their families benefit from this little piece of heaven here on earth.
Its our hope that by donating 10% of every order from PurpleWishingGate.com and our exclusive Etsy store, we can contribute in some small way to keep this dream alive for so many who need this blessing!
If you’d like to donate directly to Camp Can Do visit their website here:
https://www.campcandoforever.org/donate/
To read more about previous campaigns and past donations visit the links below:
by Bill MacAdam December 10, 2023 3 min read
by Barbara MacAdam August 12, 2020 3 min read
by Barbara MacAdam December 12, 2019 4 min read