Donor of the Month
December 2010
John T. Gorman Foundation and Jack's Magic Bean Fund
As you may recall from our recent Momentum Endowment & Capital Campaign Newsletter, the John T. Gorman Foundation offered Camp Sunshine a generous matching challenge in 2010, where the Foundation would match all donations of $25,000 and above to Camp Sunshine, up to a total of $250,000. Well we are pleased to announce that, thanks to another gift of $50,000 from Jack's Magic Bean Fund and the Ramsden Family, the Gorman Foundation matching challenge is complete.
This latest gift brings Jack's Magic Bean Fund's total support of the challenge to $100,000. It also brings Camp Sunshine's Let the Sun Shine All Year $14.5 Million Endowment & Capital Campaign total to $10,571,000.
"The successful completion of this matching challenge is a reflection of Camp Sunshine's strength as an organization, and the importance of the support it provides to families of children with life-threatening illnesses," said Shawn Gorman, president of the John T. Gorman Foundation. "Our gift, and the funds raised through our challenge, will endow 20 family sponsorships in perpetuity, providing the resources to help families connect and support each other for years to come."
Additional gifts of $25,000 towards the Gorman Foundation Matching Challenge were made by Carol J. & K. David Hancock Charitable Trust, David and Laurie Sukoff, The Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, the Billy Burchard Foundation, the Sasser family and an anonymous donor.
"It is our absolute pleasure (and honor) to be able to help a place that has helped us so much," said Matt and Linda Ramsden. "This December makes 5 years since our son Jack left this world behind, and in that time we have continued to live because of the role Camp has played in our lives. We have been emotionally present for our surviving children and have watched with such joy as they grow into the coolest, most compassionate young ladies. We have welcomed new children into our family, both biologically and through adoption, neither of which would have been fathomable without the healing of Camp. We have continued to prosper in our professional lives and have created a nonprofit to honor our child and others like him. We can't even begin to imagine what the past five years might have brought without the bereavement program at Camp Sunshine. We want to ensure that this program is there for future families as it has been there for ours. We suffered from a loss that cripples and buries whole families each and every year. These families are forgotten by each and every other organization that once cared for them. They had support taken away from them, offers for magical wish trips retracted, all of this on top of the ultimate loss of experiencing the death of a child. The surviving children, the real unsung heroes, are told that they won't be going to Disney, or wherever, because their brother or sister died. There is simply no other organization that cares for grieving families the way that Camp Sunshine does. It was the one place that my kids felt welcomed, after falling off of all the other mailing lists. I don't know if anyone really understands what it is like for a newly bereaved family, what the transition 'off-treatment' is like for families that lose everything in a single instant. All of the support, all of the care -- none of it exists in bereavement. No single organization has made it their mission, nor has any other organization understood this to be a family experience. So we feel very fortunate to have lived so close and to have soaked up as much Sunshine as we have."
With Love,
The Ramsden Family
Donor of the Month
November 2010
On Saturday, November 13, 2010, Golf Fights Cancer traveled to Casco, Maine, to present Camp Sunshine with a $100,000 grant to be used in support of the camp’s bereavement program. Golf Fights Cancer, a non-profit organization based out of Norton, Mass., is made up of both professional and recreational golfers committed to using golf as a platform to raise money in the fight against cancer.
In June 2010, Golf Fights Cancer held its first Golf Marathon in which 14 golfers played 100 holes of golf or more in a single day to help raise money for Camp Sunshine. This donation is designated specifically for the growth of the bereavement program, which was established in 2002. The program provides a therapeutic community in which bereaved families can support each other and celebrate the lives of all of their children. The goal of this grant is to guarantee that the program has a permanent spot at Camp Sunshine for the continued support of bereaved families.
“Participating in the Golf Marathon this year was an amazing experience,” said Ed Lynch, Golf Marathon participant. “Knowing that the funds were going to the bereavement program at Camp Sunshine inspired me to make the most of the event. In a small way, I was able to honor the memory of my son, Jack, while teaching my children that even after a tragedy you can move on, make a difference and have a little fun at the same time.”
“We are thrilled to be able to support Camp Sunshine,” stated Brian Oates, chairman of Golf Fights Cancer. “It is the goal of Golf Fights Cancer to make a positive impact on families that are affected by this devastating disease. By supporting the bereavement programming it is our hope to comfort and assist families that are dealing with the ultimate loss of cancer. We are humbled by the prospect that our donation will ensure a permanent place of respite for these special families.”
The mission of Golf Fights Cancer is to tap into the passion and generosity of all golfers to raise much-needed funds for cancer related organizations and families that are living with the disease. The organization makes targeted donations for equipment, research, services and amenities that make an immediate impact on treatment and the experience for both the patient and family.
Nancy Cincotta, psychosocial director at Camp Sunshine, stated, “This gift will ensure that bereavement programming is on the map forever at Camp Sunshine. It will be used for innovative and helpful initiatives in service of bereaved families.”
Special thanks to the Golf Fights Cancer Board of Directors, Golf Committee, and Players for this incredible gift, and to the Lynch family for their dedicated support.
Donor of the Month
October 2010
We are thrilled to feature Hyundai and Hyundai Hope on Wheels as Camp Sunshine's October Donor of the Month.
Hyundai Hope on Wheels is a partnership of 800 Hyundai dealers across the United States and Hyundai Motor America aimed at raising awareness of childhood cancer.
On Saturday, September 25 - during National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - Hope on Wheels visited Camp Sunshine's campus on a beautiful, sunny fall day where approximately 150 family members, volunteers, donors, and friends joined us as representatives from Hyundai Hope On Wheels presented Camp Sunshine with a check in the amount of $100,000! Camp Sunshine will use funds from the grant to add two additional oncology sessions to its 2011 schedule.
Camp Sunshine is delighted and humbled to receive this generous donation from Hyundai. This investment will enable us to expand our program in 2011, and help us achieve our goal of providing much-needed respite, support, and hope to as many as 1,000 families.
We thank Hyundai and their network of dealers in Northern New England and around the country for helping us continue our service, and for their contributions to the cancer community. Camp Sunshine also thanks Kevin Barry, District Sales Manager of Hyundai Motor America; all of the Hyundai dealers from Maine who joined Kevin on behalf of Hyundai; and the Camp Sunshine families and friends who helped us celebrate this special occasion! To see a video of the event, please visit the Hyundai Hope on Wheels website (Donation Ceremonies-Week 4) or click here to see it on YouTube.
Donor of the Month
September 2010
Katherine L. Derrig
Katherine L. Derrig of Portland, Maine passed away on December 25, 2009 at the age of 92, leaving the entirety of her estate to Camp Sunshine. Valued at over $400,000, this is the largest estate gift ever received by Camp Sunshine. The gift will be added to Camp Sunshine's endowment, and will help secure the future of the program.
Ms. Derrig never volunteered at Camp Sunshine and had no family connection to the program. She made a handful of contributions to support the program over the past several years, none of which would have ever signaled the enormity of what was to come. According to the administrator of her will, Ms. Derrig was a quiet woman who enjoyed reading Camp Sunshine's newsletters and was apparently very impressed and taken by our mission.
This gift illustrates the potential for planned giving to have a tremendous impact on the future of Camp Sunshine. Through Ms. Derrig's legacy and generosity, children with life-threatening illnesses and their families will be able to find respite and support at Camp Sunshine for years to come.
Donor of the Month
August 2010
Tropical Smoothie Café
On August 5, the last night of “Tropical Smoothie Café Week” at Camp Sunshine, representatives from Tropical Smoothie Café presented our founder Anna Gould with a whopper of a check in the amount $310,000 to help support family sponsorships and family transportation. Tropical Smoothie raised the funds through their annual National Flip Flop Day promotional campaign, which set a record for the event this year, and brings their three-year total raised for Camp Sunshine to $710,000.
On hand to present the check from Tropical Smoothie Café corporate headquarters were Jim Valentino, Chief Operating Officer & President; and Barbara Valentino, Vice president of Marketing & Communications. Jim and Barbara were joined by a remarkable and caring team of Tropical Smoothie Café area developers and store owners who spent the whole week at Camp volunteering.
“Everyone in the Tropical Smoothie Café community, from franchisees to area developers to employees, is ecstatic about the success of this year’s National Flip Flop Day celebration, and all of us are truly grateful to our loyal and wonderful customers who donated money to this worthy cause,” said Jim Valentino. “As we continue to surpass preceding years in the funds we raise, we look forward to reaching the $1 million mark next year in total funds raised.”
Camp Sunshine is proud of this special partnership with Tropical Smoothie Café and appreciates the opportunity to help more families with this generous support..
Donor of the Month
July 2010
Jack's Magic Bean Fund
ACamp Sunshine is proud to announce Jack's Magic Bean Fund as the July donor of the month. Jack's Magic Bean Fund was founded in 2009 by Matt & Linda Ramsden, in memory of their son Jack who passed away from cancer at age 2. Jack's Magic Bean Fund is committed to supporting families of pediatric cancer at all stages of their journey. They fund ground-breaking research for a cure, support families who are in the middle of their battles, and also support families who have lost a child to pediatric cancer.
The Ramsden's have attended Camp Sunshine's Bereavement Program and have been wanting to give back to Camp so that others could also benefit from this important program. When they learned of the $250,000 matching challenge from the JTG Foundation they knew that it was a perfect fit. Jack's Magic Bean Fund committed $25,000 to the challenge. Then, a few months later, the Ramsden's completed a very successful fundraising event and wanted to increase their gift to $50,000 while the matching opportunity was still in place. This gift brings the total raised towards the challenge to $175,000.
"Camp Sunshine's Bereavement Program has been instrumental in helping to mend our broken families, so that those families can in turn go back out and fight the good fight. We have been able to help many families through the work of Jack's Magic Bean Fund and I know that we wouldn't have had the wherewithal to start this organization without the healing that takes place whenever we head to Casco, Maine. Camp Sunshine makes our Magic Bean grow!" stated Linda Ramsden. Their gift will be used to endow a bereavement family sponsorship fund in perpetuity at Camp Sunshine.
Camp Sunshine would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the Ramsden Family and Jack's Magic Bean Fund for helping to make the magic beans grow here at Camp Sunshine!.
Donor of the Month
June 2010
The JTG Foundation
After witnessing Camp Sunshine successfully celebrate its 25th Anniversary in 2009, the JTG Foundation (a Maine-based organization founded by John T. Gorman, Jr. in 1995) offered Camp Sunshine a gift that would help it continue its momentum and leverage the opportunity of this historic moment in the organization's history. The gift is in the form of a challenge, matching all gifts of $25,000 and above to Camp Sunshine's endowment in 2010, to a total of $250,000.
Once complete, the JTG Foundation Matching Challenge will result in a gain of $500,000 toward Camp Sunshine's $14.5 million Momentum Endowment & Capital Campaign, pushing it to the $10 million mark in 2010. Specifically, the $500,000 will endow 20 family sponsorship funds in perpetuity. The JTG Foundation began sponsoring families at Camp Sunshine in 2005, and supported the construction of the new Parents' Discussion Room in 2008 with a gift of $100,000.
To date, $125,000 has been raised towards the challenge, from the following donors: David & Laurie Sukoff committed the first $25,000 in January 2010. David is a Camp Sunshine Board Member who, along with his wife Laurie, daughter of our founders, gave $50,000 to Camp Sunshine's endowment in 2003. Matt & Linda Ramsden committed the second $25,000 towards the challenge through Jack's Magic Bean Fund. Their gift is made in memory of their son Jack, who passed away from cancer in 2005, and will be used to endow a bereavement family sponsorship fund. An Anonymous donor, who had already given $25,000 in 2007 to endow a family sponsorship fund, gave the third gift of $25,000. The Billy Burchard Foundation committed the fourth gift of $25,000, honoring the life of Billy Burchard, who died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 48. The Carol J. & K. David Hancock Charitable Trust committed the fifth and most recent gift of $25,000. This is the second gift of $25,000 from the Trust to Camp Sunshine's endowment.
To learn how you can participate in the challenge, please contact Camp Sunshine's Executive Director Matt Hoidal at (207) 655-3800 or mhoidal@campsunshine.org.
Donor of the Month
May 2010
Maine Community Foundation
Hospice Fund
We are pleased to announce the receipt of a $10,000 grant from the Hospice Fund of the Maine Community Foundation, which will be used to sponsor families at Camp Sunshine’s 2010 bereavement programs.
For over 30 years Hospice of Maine provided hospice volunteers and bereavement services to clinical hospice programs. Based on the changing environment and in an effort to strengthen and unify hospice services in southern Maine, in January, 2006 the Hospice of Maine’s direct service programs were transferred to VNA Home Health Care and Hospice of Southern Maine who are both working to create and expand their full service hospice programs. As part of this transition, Hospice of Maine decided to use its remaining assets to create this Hospice Fund in a manner consistent with the mission and philosophy of Hospice of Maine and the intention of its supporters. The purpose of the fund is to support hospice services in southern Maine, in particular by funding programs that support volunteer and bereavement services in Cumberland and York Counties.
As part of the grant review process, Hospice Fund volunteer Nancy Heyner toured Camp Sunshine and visited with members of our staff and board of directors. Needless to say, Nancy was very impressed with her visit, and returned back to share her glowing review with the rest of her team. We are grateful for Nancy’s and the Hospice Fund board’s support and confidence, and are proud of this commitment from the Hospice Fund and the Maine Community Foundation. Likewise, we know the families who will directly benefit from their generosity will be most appreciative.
Donor of the Month
April 2010
Hannaford Supermarkets
Camp Sunshine is pleased to announce that it has received a $50,000 donation from Hannaford Supermarkets. That money will provide a free weeklong camp vacation for 40 children with cancer, along with their parents and siblings, in 2010.
“The generosity of the entire Hannaford organization has been crucial to our mission and they’ve helped us take some important steps along the way,” said Matt Hoidal, executive director, Camp Sunshine. “Hannaford’s contributions have helped us expand and enhance our program and campus, enabling us to make an even greater difference in the lives of many deserving children and families, and we’re tremendously grateful for their support.”
Since 2006, Hannaford Supermarkets and the Hannaford Charitable Foundation have collectively donated $200,000 to Camp Sunshine, with previous funds going toward the addition of a second floor to the camp’s main building.
“Camp Sunshine is a unique organization that fills an important void in the treatment of children with life-threatening illnesses — offering a respite from the day-to-day challenges faced by the child and the entire family,” said Michael Norton, director of corporate communications for Hannaford. “We’ve supported Camp Sunshine for several years now and it’s been a privilege to see the progress the organization has been able to make with our assistance."
Donor of the Month
March 2010
JetBlue Airways
Camp Sunshine is pleased to recognize JetBlue Airways once again this year for their donation of 80 round-trip airline tickets in 2010. Tickets will be used to help families who would otherwise be unable to access Camp Sunshine's program.
JetBlue donated the same number of round-trip tickets to Camp Sunshine in 2009, and has been flying Camp Sunshine families to Maine since they first began service to Portland, Maine in 2006.
As one of the only camp's of its kind in the country providing support to the entire family, and not just the ill child, it's important that Camp Sunshine can help increase access to its unique program to families from around the nation. JetBlue recognizes this need, and through their continued support has displayed great compassion and commitment.
We are grateful for this long-standing partnership with JetBlue, and proud to recognize them as Camp Sunshine's official airline.
Donor of the Month
February 2010
Wal-Mart Foundation
Camp Sunshine is pleased to highlight the Wal-Mart Foundation as its February Donor of the Month. The foundation recently donated $55,000 to kick off Camp Sunshine's 2010 winter program by sponsoring our first 2010 session.
"To have the continued support and confidence from a company as philanthropic and successful as Wal-Mart is both humbling and a tremendous source of pride for us," Matthew Hoidal, Camp Sunshine's Executive Director, said.
Representatives from Wal-Mart presented the check to Camp Sunshine on Dec. 5. "The Wal-Mart Foundation is proud to support programs like Camp Sunshine that strengthen communities and provide individuals the opportunity to live better," said David Murray, Market Manager for Region 11, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
With the $55,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation, Camp Sunshine has now received more than $150,000 in support from Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs over the years.
Donor of the Month
January 2010
Have A Chance Foundation
This month, we are pleased to highlight the Have A Chance Foundation for their recent grant of $41,000. The grant will be used to purchase a brand new passenger van, which Camp Sunshine will use to transport families to and from camp. The foundation team also included some extra funds for fueling the van.
The relationship between Have A Chance and Camp Sunshine is an interesting one, and Camp Sunshine is indebted to Amy Reiling for the introduction. Amy attended Camp Sunshine’s program with her family in 2008, and left feeling grateful for the experience. Wanting to help Camp Sunshine, Amy contacted the Have A Chance Foundation and raved about our program. The Have A Chance team was immediately impressed with Camp Sunshine and phoned us to see how they could help.
Have A Chance is a non-profit organization founded by Arlene and Dennis Roth after their 27-year-old son Jeff was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme, one of the deadliest, most aggressive forms of brain tumors. The Roth family started Have A Chance as a way to share the information they gathered on brain tumors and to assist families in their time of need. The foundation is committed to researching treatments that touch on the four elements of healing: conventional, alternative, spiritual and psychological.
For more information about Have A Chance, please visit their website at: www.haveachance.org
