Week 7 of 16

Running has been a task these days with crazy hours in the Emergency Room and a commute to top it. In fact, last week, I was only able to run once, and that was my long run! Nevertheless, I am down to about 8 weeks left and my schedule is normalizing.

I want to thank all of you who have already donated to support my goal and tell you a little story about the camp. When I worked there in 2001, we had a whole session for sickle cell children. The camp raised the temperature of the pool to 90 degrees so they could go swimming without invoking a crisis. Since most of them had never gone into a pool before, we counselors found ourselves carrying them on our backs across the length of the pool and back to help them pass their swim test. I have never heard such laughter and seen so many smiles around a pool before, but I know these kids wait for the opportunity to go back to the camp to go swimming. Or horseback riding.

It should give us all great pleasure to be part of the Hole In the Wall Gang Camp by helping a child go there. I know it will be such a special experience for whoever that kid is. I hope maybe a few of you reading this even decide to volunteer a week of your time to find out how magical the camp can be.