Campground Owners of New York (CONY) are celebrating 10 years of supporting the nonprofit organization, Camp Good Days.
Over that time, operators have raised more than $750,000 for the nonprofit, which provides weeklong camps and other activities that provide a much-needed escape for children with cancer. The organization also has programs for adults, including women suffering from breast cancer and men facing prostate cancer. Participants come from all over New York, the U.S., and even from overseas. And because of the generosities of groups like CONY, all of the programs are free for the participants.
“We all operate campgrounds, but Camp Good Days offers extraordinary activities and experiences they are uniquely qualified to provide,” said Matt Anderson, a co-owner and operator of Camp Chautauqua in Stow, N.Y., who regularly volunteers at Camp Good Days, helping with maintenance and other tasks.
Anderson said he will always remember the emotions the first time he witnessed a Camp Good Days cancer camp in session. “It’s just breathtaking,” he said. “It will make you cry. It’s that moving. It’s just a great thing.”
Anderson himself volunteers on the Camp Good Days board of directors in addition to serving on the board of Campground Owners of New York. While his own son, Noah, does not suffer from cancer, he was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease at age 4, which required his son to be hospitalized and undergo costly treatments, all of which helped Anderson to develop a special empathy for parents of children with cancer, he said.
While the pandemic continues, New York campground operators are still scheduling special fundraising activities this spring and summer to support Camp Good Days’ many cancer camps.
Consumers who would like to support Camp Good Days can make donations directly to the organization through its website at CampGoodDays.org or contact campgrounds listed on CampNewYork.com to see the full schedule of events they have planned to support Camp Good Days this year.
