Countywide : Child Burn Victim Invited to Camp

A week of summer camp and a day at Disneyland are being offered free of charge to burn survivors ages 5 to 18.

The camp, sponsored by the Alisa Ann Ruch California Burn Foundation, will be held June 16-23. The children will go to Disneyland on the 24th.

The foundation, which has a Ventura County chapter and provides services for burn victims in the county, is still looking for eligible children and for sponsors to cover the $450 cost for each camper.

Participants in Southern California will be picked up from their homes and taken to Burbank, where they will board three buses for the six-hour drive to River Way Ranch Camp in Sanger, near Fresno.

Activities at the camp will include swimming, boating, hiking, horseback riding, and arts and crafts.

Although there will be burn specialists on hand to give participants necessary treatments, it should be “a normal week at camp,” said Cathy Weinstein, assistant camp director.

At the conclusion of the week, participants will be bused directly to Disneyland, where they will spend the day before returning home.

Weinstein said the purpose of the camp, now in its fifth year, is to provide a setting where scarred burn survivors can “for a period of time, be away from the public eye. It really helps them feel that, ‘Hey, I’m not the only one out there.’ ”

So far, 110 people have registered for the program, and Weinstein said, “We will continue to increase our staff” to accommodate more participants. “We’re not going to close the door,” she said.

Founded in 1971, the group has four chapters and uses hundreds of volunteers, Weinstein said. It offers support groups for burn survivors and their families and sends counselors to schools and workplaces of burn survivors to talk with the victims’ peers and help ease the transition back into normal life.

Those interested in participating in the summer camp or sponsoring a child may call (818) 883-7700.