This weekend, my son and I are riding our bicycles in the Stanley Stammpede, a charity bike ride to benefit the Stanley Stamm Children's Hospital Summer Camp.
The outdoor camp enables children, such as my developmentally delayed daughter, the opportunity to experience a typical week-long summer camp.
In spite of their disabilities, children like my daughter still like to be active and do things that other kids do. Here she enjoys riding a trike at a recent family camp.
The camp
Dr. Stanley Stamm, a cariologist at Seattle's Children's Hospital, started the camp 41 years ago because it wasn't easy for many of his patients to participate in physical activities, and traditional summer camps could not handle their medical needs.
Dr. Stamm still participates in the camp, which is staffed by 200 to 250 volunteers, many with medical backgrounds.
Some 100 children, aged 6 to 14, attend every year with such medical illnesses as pulmonary problems, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Down's syndrome, cystic fibrosis, endocrine diseases, neurological problems, and cancer.
They get to participate in those summer camp staples of swimming, boating, fishing, horseback riding, arts and crafts, sing-alongs, and other activities. Here's a video about the Stanley Stamm summer camp.
Our daughter attended last year, and we're hoping to get in again this year.
Donations
The cost of such a camp would be prohibitive, however, without the proceeds from two fund-raisers, the Stanley Stammpede in the spring and the Swim for Stamm Camp in the fall. That's why my son and I are collecting pledges and riding this weekend.
The two-day Stammpede encompasses 30-mile rides on San Juan and Lopez islands in the Puget Sound. These are popular bicycling destinations, and I'll be blogging about them when I return.
In addition to friends and family, I'd like to give my blog readers a chance to donate. If you'd like to contribute, I've set up a PayPal donation button on this post and in the left sidebar, above the ads. Any amount I receive will be entered on the pledge form and turned in on Saturday.
(This is my first attempt at seeking pledges for a ride. If you have any advice on a better system, I'd appreciate hearing about it.)
Recent Comments