A Summer Like No Other at Camp Boggy Creek

Of the countless indignities children with serious illnesses face, among the most difficult is the loss of the everyday and extraordinary moments they should be experiencing at their young age. Summertime seems like a particularly unfair time, when kids are meant to enjoy the carefree fun and freedom of the season.

Perhaps no one realized that disparity more than the late actor and philanthropist Paul Newman, who co-founded the SeriousFun Children’s Network in 1988. Established in Ashford, Connecticut and eventually growing to a worldwide community of 30 camps, the organization provides children with serious illnesses and their families with a one-of-a-kind summer camp experience, completely free of charge.

“[Mr. Newman] was big on being anonymous and not relying on his fame. He wanted people to support the network because of the mission and the kids,” recalls Jacqueline Boykin, the Chief Development Officer of Camp Boggy Creek, a branch of the nonprofit located in Eustis, Florida. Despite maintaining a low profile, Newman would make appearances at SeriousFun camp events and take part in activities with the campers. “He’d have talks with the kids all the time.”

While Newman encouraged all the camps to be autonomous, Boykin explains they all follow one mantra: safe, respected and loved. “Our goal is to create an environment where children, their siblings, their parents and their grandparents can be whoever they need to be,” she says. “We allow them the opportunity to not have to worry about doctor appointments or the stress that the family might be feeling, and they get to come to camp and meet and connect with other kids.”

A veritable haven for children aged 7-16, Camp Boggy Creek provides the opportunity to enjoy activities like swimming, fishing, boating, archery, miniature golf and horseback riding in a caring and medically secure environment. (The camp has medical facilities and fully trained medical staff and volunteers.)

The campers who attend are managing various diseases, illnesses and conditions, including life-threatening cancers and immunodeficiency disorders. Boykin has witnessed firsthand the profound impact the organization has on campers and their families.

“There are so many wonderful, uplifting stories of kids who have seen the other side and are living with their illness as adults, and they will tell you what camp gave to them,” she says. For families whose child spent their last summer at Camp Boggy Creek, Boykin shares that the space can often be a place of healing and memory. “It really drives home the importance of our mission.”

Through yearly programming that includes family retreats, the camp typically serves around 2,000 individuals and families each year. However, like many nonprofit organizations over the past four years, numbers have dwindled—from campers to volunteers to funding. But the camp is finding ways to return to pre-COVID levels.

Camp Boggy Creek’s general operating budget covers everything from staff support to sporting equipment. Boykin points to “savvy donors” who adopt an unrestricted giving strategy from vehicles like donor-advised funds (DAFs), noting that these donors’ gifts to the general operating fund make a noticeable impact on ensuring that the camp can provide everything it needs to for the children and their families.

“I think in today’s world, it is more important than ever to take care of one another,” Boykin says, adding, “even if we don’t have a critical illness in our own families, another family’s life has been turned upside down. Camp gives them a healthy space where they can turn everything off and just be.”

Photo courtesy of Camp Boggy Creek