Serious Fun Network/North Star Reach

"I wish I could recall with clarity the impulse the compelled me to help bring camp into being. I'd be pleased if I could announce a motive of lofty purpose. I've been accused of compassion, of altruism, of devotion to Christian, Hebrew, and Moslem ethic, but however desperate I am to claim ownership of a high ideal, I cannot. I wanted, I think, to acknowledge Luck: the chance of it, the benevolence of it in my life, and the brutality of it in lives of others: made especially savage for children because they may not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it." - Paul Newman 


A few years ago, I had the good fortune of getting involved with the Serious Fun Network (then known as the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps) and since 2007, these amazing camps have only further inched their way into my heart. Paul Newman founded the first camp in Connecticut in the very year I was founded, and the network has continued to grow since then. The camps are designed to give children with life-altering conditions and illnesses the chance to simply be kids in a safe and loving environment.  Spending a week at The Painted Turtle and a week at Hole in the Wall Gang Camp left such an imprint that I wanted to do my part to help send children to camp (because yes, it's free!). This was the push I needed to commit to my first half-marathon, which I ran as part of Team Hole in the Wall. 


About a month after I moved out to Michigan last summer, I learned of North Star Reach, a provisional member of the Serious Fun Network, being built just 30 miles from where I live! Last month, before leaving for New Orleans, I had the wonderful honor of accompanying 3 kids to their first week of magic at Hole in the Wall Gang Camp as part of the Camp on the Move program. This initiative sends deserving children to a camp already in existence while one closer to them is being built. This summer, 30+ kids were sent from Michigan to three different Hole in the Wall camps - Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut, Victory Junction in North Carolina, and Double H in New York. As a travel chaperone, my job was to help the kids get to the fun....and then sadly turn around and come back! Due to the craziness of this summer, I'm not able to spend a full week at camp, but I still wanted to be involved and even if it was only for about an hour (the length of a very tasty lunch, thank you very much!), it was so great being back at Hole in the Wall and it made me want to share the love with all those I love....so expect forceful invitations to get involved and volunteer in summers to come!


Yesterday, I started reading Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good, written by Paul Newman and his partner, A. E. Hotchner, about the start of mass producing salad dressing, the creation of Newman's Own, and the beginning of Hole in the Wall Gang Camp and its related camps. While I knew funding for each camp did not solely come from Newman's Own, I didn't know that to this day, 100% of all profit is donated to charity - WOWZAS! The book was an easy, quick read (did I mention I finished it today?), and it made me feel all the emotions of a good book - happiness, hopeful, love, and appreciation - and I would recommend it to all. It's a good reminder of the importance of giving to others, as well as eating quality pasta sauce.