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North Star Reach offers seriously ill kids camp fun.
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in nation for boosting graduates’
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11:1
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students employed or registered for
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100+
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December 6 • 2018
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Feeling Normals
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46
COURTESY CAMP NORTH STAR REACH
Possible is everything.
jn
Southfield, Michigan
ltu.edu /applyfree
n just three summers since its
are surviving their illnesses. By the
opening, Camp North Star Reach,
summer of 2021, Armstrong said the
on 105 acres in Pinckney, Mich.,
camp plans to expand its capacity to
has given 1,944 children with
welcome 1,600 children and
ABOVE: An
serious illnesses a weeklong
their family members.
all-accessible
summer camp experience
“Hospitals are amazing at
treehouse was
free from barriers. And free
providing
cures,” Armstrong
added recently; the
of cost.
said.
“But
camp
provides a
kids are enjoying
The camp offers all the
cocoon hammocks. vital place where kids with
aspects of a rustic summer
serious health challenges
camp experience, now with an
move from being a ‘sick kid’ to
expanded waterfront, sports and arts
feeling a sense of normalcy. How that
and crafts as well as new additions like
happens is as unique as each camper.
two new zero-entry heated swimming
But it’s nurtured by the friendships
pools and an accessible treehouse fea-
they make with other kids facing simi-
tured on the DIY Network.
lar challenges.”
What makes the camp unique are
Trevor Sullivan, 17, had a heart
the dozens of medical volunteers
transplant in November 2015 and has
— physicians and nurses and other
been attending camp since the summer
healthcare professionals who staff the
of 2016. He is a senior at Groves High
camp’s state-of-the-art health center
School in Birmingham and, because
and oversee the care of North Star
of his experiences, wishes to pursue a
Reach (NSR) campers.
career as a child life specialist, a hospi-
One of those volunteers is Dr. Jacob
tal position focusing on the emotional
Bilhartz, pediatric gastroenterologist at well-being of children undergoing
Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor.
extended hospital stays.
“It’s hard to put into words how
“I have three homes: my house, the
meaningful it is to see kids who have
hospital and at camp,” he said. “Camp
come back from being really sick, sur-
for me helped me find a family outside
rounded by their friends at camp and
of the hospital. We are all there for
having fun just being kids,” he said.
similar reasons and some of us have
“At the hospital, we focus on fixing the
even met in the hospital before. But
body. But it’s at camp where kids can
having this experience really lets us get
get back to feeling normal.”
to know each other for who we really
Most campers come from Michigan, are. It becomes one big community.”
but as word is getting out about the
Camp North Star Reach, a non-
camp, they are traveling from across
profit organization, is a provisional
the Great Lakes region, including the
member of the SeriousFun Children’s
Chicago area, to experience all the
Network. The free camping experience
outdoor adventures and childhood joys is possible through the generosity
of a traditional camp in a medically
of hundreds of donors, including
supportive environment.
NSR founders: The Vera and Joseph
According to NSR founder and CEO Dresner Foundation, the Jones Family
Doug Armstrong, the camp’s sum-
Foundation, Mott Golf Classic and
mer residential and family weekend
the Ted & Jane Von Voigtlander
programs are needed more than ever
Foundation; also funding from the
because a growing population of chil-
Stanley L. & Phyllis Berger Family
dren with serious medical conditions
Foundation. ■