A ‘magical’ homecoming for Good Times camper
As a third-grader, Veronica Cappalonga faced a shocking reality that many of her classmates found hard to understand. She was diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia and spent more than two years undergoing chemotherapy treatments. She relapsed seven months later and had a bone marrow transplant, insisting to her doctor that she be wheeled into school the day after her operation.
“Are you going to die?” asked a classmate one day, staring at Veronica’s bald head.
“I don’t know,” Veronica, now 22, recalls saying. “But I’m going to promise you I’m going to do all I can to get back here.”
Devastated by her diagnosis, Veronica’s family and friends tried to help by giving her hats with braids sewn inside and wigs to wear. True to her headstrong nature, she refused to wear any of them.
When she was 11, Veronica went to the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times on the advice of her doctor. This summer, she will return for the second time as a camp counselor after more than a dozen years of being free from leukemia.
“The environment is absolutely magical,” said Veronica, who now sports a short mop of curly brown hair and is working toward becoming a spokeswoman for cancer research. “Counselors throw themselves into creating this environment where all your fears disappear. You’re not a person who has cancer in the world but you’re a human being free to express yourself.”
Each summer, more than 1,500 children with cancer and their families come to Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times, which overlooks Palm Desert in the San Bernardino Mountains. During the weeklong camp, which campers attend at no charge, kids in every stage of their diagnosis can ride horses, swim, scale a 50-foot climbing tower, compete in archery with 79-year-old counselor “Big Ed” Rasky and watch skits around a campfire.
Children make trips to the “med shed” between activities to get chemotherapy or for more conventional camp injuries like skinned knees and bee stings. The camp ensures everyone can participate by offering four-wheel-drive wheelchairs, bows that can be operated with one arm and ramps so wheelchair users can ride the horses.
“We help children have an incredibly great time and laugh and make friends who totally understand what they’re going through,” said Carol Horvitz, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Southern California. “We help kids not see themselves as victims but as powerful people who are able to still own their own life and go on to make a difference in the world. For some it will be a long life, for some it won’t.”About 12,000 children will go to camps this summer, thanks to $2.1 million raised last year.
The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.2 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.
Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make donations by credit card, go to latimes.com/summercamp.
To send checks, use the attached coupon. Do not send cash.
Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Times.