August 24, 2023 • 18 mins
Aired August 20, 2023: As summer camps wrap up...the long lasting, positive effects of camp will stay with us forever. The Painted Turtle is an EXTRA special camp experience for children with serious medical conditions, but still a camp where kids can just be kids and have fun! And totally Free of Charge!
Lisa Foxx interviews April Tani, the Director of Programming for The Painted Turtle, that began as a dream in 1999 when Paul Newman and Page Adler, co-founded it. Located just outside of Los Angeles in Lake Hughes, The Painted Turtle has served tens of thousands of children and families since opening in 2004. Thousands of campers and family members come together each year to sing, dance, laugh, grow and discover their potential in a community of people who have shared experiences. Through their condition-specific, week-long Summer Sessions and Fall and Spring Family Weekends, children have the opportunity to learn new strategies of medical self-care, increase their confidence, and build supportive friendships with peers who have the same medical conditions. The mission of The Painted Turtle is to provide a year-round, life-changing environment and authentic camp experience for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. This place is a WONDERFUL HAVEN for sick kids and their families. To Apply to have your child attend camp, to donate or volunteer...
Get info here: thepaintedturtle.org
Lisa Foxx interviews April Tani, the Director of Programming for The Painted Turtle, that began as a dream in 1999 when Paul Newman and Page Adler, co-founded it. Located just outside of Los Angeles in Lake Hughes, The Painted Turtle has served tens of thousands of children and families since opening in 2004. Thousands of campers and family members come together each year to sing, dance, laugh, grow and discover their potential in a community of people who have shared experiences. Through their condition-specific, week-long Summer Sessions and Fall and Spring Family Weekends, children have the opportunity to learn new strategies of medical self-care, increase their confidence, and build supportive friendships with peers who have the same medical conditions. The mission of The Painted Turtle is to provide a year-round, life-changing environment and authentic camp experience for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. This place is a WONDERFUL HAVEN for sick kids and their families. To Apply to have your child attend camp, to donate or volunteer...
Get info here: thepaintedturtle.org
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi is Lisa Fox. Thanks somuch for listening. This is the iHeart
So Cal Show, all right.So as summer camps are wrapping up,
we all know that the long lastingpositive effects of camp stay with us forever.
And the Painted Turtle Camp is anextra special camp experience because it's for
kids with serious medical conditions, buta place where they can go and have
(00:21):
that memorable special camp experience and justbe kids and all totally free of charge.
Just all began when they open theirdoors back in the early two thousands
just outside of LA in Lake Hughes, and since then they've served tens of
thousands of kids and their families.So maybe now it's your turn. You're
listening going, oh gosh, ifyou know of a kid, if you
(00:42):
have a kid with a serious medicalcondition, they would love to go to
camp and have this camp experience andbond with other kids and their same or
similar situations. You know. Iwant to talk about how it all began,
how we can get involved or applyto go to these camps. They
have events year rounds. We're goingto dive into all of it with a
director of Programming for The Painted Turtle, April Tanni Hi April. Hi,
(01:03):
Lisa, so happy to finally haveyou guys on the radio with me.
I've done about you for years.You started back in the late nineties,
then open the camp doors in twothousand and four, helping so many,
I mean, really sick kids.The list of ailments is like, oh
my gosh, these kids have alot going on and your job is to
help them have the best time everat camp. And I've met just that.
(01:27):
To see those smiles and their facesjust must mean everything. Yes,
they do. Thanks so much forhaving us, and we're so happy to
share about the Painted Turtle and howwe serve the community. A bit about
us. The Painted Turtle began innineteen ninety nine when Paul Newman and Pah
Adler co founded Camp in hopes ofcreating a place where kids with medical conditions
(01:48):
could just be kids, where theycould experience the joys of a traditional camp
experience. And now, in ournineteenth year of operation, we've served over
one hundred forty thousand children with piousmedical conditions and their families. Now,
can I ask so famous Paul Newmanand Paige Adler, who is also married
to the famous Lou Adler of thesunset strip in the music world, and
shout out to his son Nick Addler, who I know and he's been talking
(02:10):
about this organization for years, andthe legendary Paul Newman whose products just continue
to raise so much money to giveback. But what made and what propelled
Paul Newman and Paige Addler to launchthis and make it their mission to provide
this super positive, amazing camp exprancefor really sick kids. Yeah, Paul
(02:32):
Newman always said he wanted to acknowledgeluck, the good luck and fortune he's
had in his life and maybe thenot so good luck that some of the
children that come to our camp program'sexperience. And so our founder Page had
volunteered at Paul's Serious Fund camps inConnecticut, the first camp that Paul Newman
(02:53):
started, and she was hooked andyou know, really determined to bring that
type of program here to the childrenand communities across California and really again with
the yeah, with the goal ofgetting kids who faced some really tough circumstances
in their lives to have a placewhere they're safe, they you know,
(03:15):
their medical needs could be taken careof, and that they can be kids
and experience the joys of camp.And I know that you have events year
round and events and fundraisers, buthow does a summer camp work. How
does the scheduling of it all workso that we can plan ahead for next
year and apply to get some morekids involved. Yeah, we just concluded
our summer It was amazing to welcomeunderds of children to our program. And
(03:39):
how our summer program works is thatwe host eight typically eight medical conditions summer
camp sessions. So they're all justabout a week long, five or six
days, and it's all grouped bymedical conditions. So we'll have a session
for kids with SkELL to displaysia orkidney disease, and transplants. And this
(04:00):
allows us to offer program that's reallytailored to the needs of a medical condition
group, ensure that all of theservices and programs we provide are as inclusive
of our campers as possible, fromeverything from the activities we provide to the
menu that's served, to the medicalcare and having medical specialists in each condition
(04:20):
on site during the session. Sothat's how our programs structured, is really
tailored to do the medical condition groupand the children that we're serving for that
one week. Wow and So arethese a lot of kids from California,
Southern California? Are they coming fromall over the country. Yeah, the
majority of our campers do come fromacross California, primarily southern California, but
(04:44):
we do serve a certain group,certain groups of children that truly don't have
another place to go, so theytravel to California from across the country to
experience the camp like ours. Sowhile it's primarily southern California, we do
see kids from across the country andevery now and again internationally as well.
And I'm looking on your website,the Painted Turtle dot org, and I
(05:05):
see there is an age requirement.So if you know of a sick child,
or if you have one and you'relooking to get them, applied to
be a part of this incredible PaintedTurtle Camp experience next summer. The age
requirement for summer camp is seven tosixteen. Yes, that's right. And
so the list of medical conditions ifyou're a child qualifies. My gosh,
(05:27):
there's like five pages there. Godbless you, I mean, you really
are available, just so many andso many of these conditions. A few
that I've heard of, like epilepsy, fibromyalgia, juvenile authritis, Crohn's disease,
sisic fibrosis. But then there's oneslike Kabuki syndrome. There's a lot
of many on here I can't pronounce. And then and then you do have
(05:50):
you know, limb loss and deficiencies, muscular dystrophee, neuromuscular diseases. There's
so many on this list. Firstof all, I just never even knew
that so many kids were going throughall this. But how incredible that your
camp has addressed it and is waitingwith open arms to help embrace them into
(06:12):
the camp experience, especially the oneson this list. I can imagine this
list is compiled because people with kidswith medical conditions, with these medical conditions
have reached out. Yeah, exactly. When camp opened, we really we
did a needs assessment throughout the stateof California to determine the groups of children
with seriously illnesses that didn't have opportunitiesto attend camps. So some of our
(06:34):
major groups were a result of thatneeds assessment done when we first opened.
But we do serve over one hundredand twenty different medical conditions. The full
list can be found on our website, and we really do try to serve
the kids that don't have an opportunityto go somewhere else. And some conditions
are just simply so rare that there'snot a lot of population of those children
(06:57):
out there. So for us tobe able to welcome them to camp,
to ride them the medical care requiredto safely you know, offer them this
experience is really meaningful for their kids, for their families, for the community
and the connection they can find hereat the Painted Turtle. And it's got
to make parents and kids with thesevery specific medical conditions feel like, oh,
(07:21):
somebody gets me, somebody, somebodycares, you know, somebody cares
about us. Somebody wants us aroundand wants my kid to have fun even
though he has cranio facial differences oralport syndrome or a plastic anemia. I
mean, people who have kids withthese conditions, it must be very isolating
(07:41):
at times. And and like yousaid, the whole point of the Painted
Turtle Camp is for kids to feellike they can be a kid, no
matter how sick they are. Yes, exactly, that's exactly what camp's all
about. And these kids, youknow, they'll come to camp and if
they you know, they're taking medsat the dinner table together, and that
doesn't happen at their school, youknow, or even in their own home.
(08:03):
So to be in a place wherethere's other kids who are on similar
meds or others who have been throughsimilar procedures or experience as you or sometimes
you know, so many times wehave kids with a scar on their body
that they haven't seen another another childwith that same scar until they come to
camp and they're at the pool togetheror something. And I think all of
(08:24):
those moments are what makes the PaintedGirl so special. Is that connection and
finding someone that you know reflects themselves, that they know truly understand what it's
like to be a child and experiencethe medical condition and medical care that they
require. So you're doing all thisto tailor to those medical needs. And
(08:45):
again, you probably have kids someare in wheelchairs, some who need a
walking apparatus or of various you know, things that they need to kind of
just be mobile and get through theday. And then I'm guessing you're you
know, you're finding a way withthese challenges sort of speak, but to
do the fun camp things that weall love about camp. We're singing,
we're singing songs, we're doing activities, we're in nature, we're hanging out
(09:07):
by the camp fire making s'mores.Right. Yeah, that's the best part
of camps that you know, onthe outside it could look like traditional camp
that these kids are having just thesame fun camp experience as children across the
country have, you know, onthe on a regular basis. They we
offer activities like boating, fishing,archery, wood shop, swimming, horseback
(09:30):
riding. Our ropes course is adaptive, so a child in a wheelchair can
you know, conquer our ropes courseand ride down the zip line. And
so it's all very inclusive. It'sour facility is built for our population of
children, and the program design,you know, is specific to make sure
that everyone can participate in every activitywe offer. And I think through these
(09:52):
activities they find they find a lotof self confidence independence, you know,
they experience a lot of joy.Like you said, but singing, the
dancing. One of our favorite activitiesis no hand spaghetti. Uh so we
all eat dinner with no hands.You can imagine that and then imagine those
kids going home and encouraging their familiesto have the same no hand spaghetti meal
(10:15):
they did at camp. Come on, Come on, mom, wasn't a
fun at camp? Come on everyFriday? We can do this right and
spirit a camp? Yep, thatcamp spirit and that's the Yeah, that's
the spirit we want them to takehome with them to their home, to
their community, to their school,to give them that bit of strength,
that bit more of courage and independenceinto their everyday lives. And that's really
(10:35):
the greatest gift camp offers children andfamilies and everyone who's a part of our
community. So when the Painted Turtledoes summer camp, and like you said,
you pick a eight specified medical conditionsto tailor too and taylor the camps
around, do you change the medicalconditions each year and our kids allowed to
come back every year until they ageout, Yes, we do. You
(10:58):
know, there are major condition groupslash sessions that generally year to year stay
the same for our summer camp calendar. We also have family weekends that serve
maybe additional groups. So our campcalendar and the groups we serve generally stay
the same year to year, althoughwe will see new groups come in if
we find, uh, you know, a medical condition group that doesn't have
(11:20):
another home. If you will,then we welcome new groups and we're always
kind of evaluating the needs of thechildren and the community to see who we
can best serve. So yeah,so it's it's follows the schedule, but
also we do have a lot ofcontinuity throughout our programs and one of our
(11:41):
favorite things is that kids can comeback year to year. They can you
know, they's you get that experienceof camp, and we find that kids
need those repeat experiences to continue tobuild their confidence and to build their independence
over their medical condition. You know, I think in our Thephilia session,
kids learn to self infuse their medsand that's the skill they learn at camp.
(12:03):
And you know, at home,their parents may be doing it for
them, or other characters may bedoing it for them. But when they're
at camp they can self infuse forthe first time. They'll earn a big
stick with you know, the supportof their peers, and we find that
when they go home they may continuethat or they may kind of revert back
to where they were, but thatnext time at camp just like reinforces the
(12:26):
skills that they learn here, thatindependence over their medical care, or just
that joy and courage they find indoing the activities, the friendships they make.
There's a true gift in kind ofhaving that dose of camp regularly for
our community here. When you talkabout how at camp some of these kids
are learning how to self infuse theirmeds, kind of sounds like you're else
(12:48):
are trying to help them really embracewhatever medical condition they have. You know,
let's embrace and conquer this thing.You know, you're not alone.
These are the cards you were dealtright now. Maybe it's going to get
better for you in the future.You know, let's stay positive. We're
going to teach you how to embraceand really own this thing so that you're
living your the best life you possiblycan. Absolutely, and kids come back
(13:11):
year to year, they reconnect withfriends. I think one of the greatest
parts of our program is that wealso see campers, you know, experience
our camper program in full, andthen when they turn you know, nineteen,
they can come back as volunteers orsome of camp counselors and give back
to the community that gave back somuch to them, the place that gave
(13:31):
so much to them. They becomerole models for campers, and they represent
to campers what they their future selves. My counselor has this condition, and
look what they're doing. I cando that too, I can do more.
So it really just is an opportunityof growth here for kids to really
get so much out of the camperprogram but stay involved in the pain internal
(13:52):
community and we really you know,thrive on our campers kind of continuing in
our program and coming to give backas well. Mm I love all of
it, and I feel like Icould see the smiles. I'm picturing a
lot of smiling faces yea at thePana Turtle camp every single year. And
again I implore you to check outthe schedule the Pana Turtle dot org.
The schedule is year round. Isee even upcoming family weekend for the epilepsy
(14:16):
group. But you have like adeadline, so there's a deadline to apply
to be a part of it,right, so you've got to epilepsy,
You're doing a family weekend for kidneydisease and transplant that group. Focus on
that. There's a big schedule happening. There's holiday gatherings, there's events throughout
the year as you're you know,getting folks together and truly trying to embrace
these medical conditions of these young kidsand their families and trying to find a
(14:41):
way to create some dare I sayfun and enjoyment in their situation and bringing
people together and just trying to makeit more of a finding the celebrations in
life as opposed to all the achinessand not so fun parts of being sick
and living with the medical condition.Maybe right, Yes, absolutely we do
that. Campers do have these medicalconditions, but a big part of our
(15:03):
program is helping them to see andunderstand that their medical condition is part of
their lives, but it does notdefine them or their lives. And so
that's what Camp does. It bringsthem the fun, the magic, the
smiles, the community, the hope, the strength to you know, take
every day as it comes. Andyou know, everyone can use those extra
sources of laughter and joy and hopeand strength, and so we're so happy
(15:26):
to be able to offer that throughour programs throughout the year. And again
this is for any child within theage requirement that is living with the medical
condition. Sick kids can apply tohave the best experience Camp experience of their
lives with the fine folks the PaintedTurtle, just by applying online. Yes,
absolutely, our applications are available onour website. Like you said,
(15:48):
Www. Dot the Painted Turtle dotOrg. And yeah, you could check
out the list of medical conditions weserve. If you don't see your condition
listed, then please reach out.There's contact information on our website and the
application, as you mentioned does thereare a number of pieces, so we
encourage families to check out the application, you know, and give yourself a
solid six weeks to apply and completethe application in preparation for coming to camp.
(16:12):
So yeah, all the dates areon our camp calendar on our website
and the applications there. We'd loveto welcome and serve as many children and
families as possible. Okay, it'sthe Painted Turtle dot Org. This incredible
camp for sick kids. Apply nowto get your kids involved. If you
have a sick kid or you knowof one with a medical condition, this
(16:33):
could just be a game changer andbrings so much joy. Log online to
apply. Log online to find outabout their turtle grams. You could send
someone who is in the hospital whocould use a bit of a pick me
upper. They're always in need ofvolunteers right monetary donations. We're always looking
for volunteers in our program to serveas camp counselors and paths to our families
(16:53):
on weekends and counselors over the summer. We have a wish list of needs
that Camp always could use and haveit twifth directly to Camp. Yeah,
anyone can make a donation on ourwebsite which will go directly to supporting our
kind of like our general operating costsand our programming. We always need medical
(17:14):
professionals. If you know medical professionalsout there who want to volunteer to support
the medical care at Camp. We'realways looking for medical professionals to lend their
time and talents in that way.And we also have a few fundraising events
coming up, So maybe supporting oneof our upcoming events, the Pena Turtles
partnering with the Bridge School to bea beneficiary for the ro Roxy's fiftieth anniversary
(17:38):
celebrations on September twenty one and twentysecond was Neil Young And we also have
a pickup all tournament coming up inOctober at the Griffin Club in West LA.
So you know, any one ofthose ways, There's plenty of ways
to support you. Visit our websitefor more on the events, the volunteer
opportunities or ways to give as well. I love it. I Love it.
(18:00):
April Tony, Director Programming for thePainted Turtle. Thank you so much
to you and the entire staff therefor all that you do for sick kids
and providing such an incredible, lifechanging, positive loving camp experience. Camp
experiences year round for sick kids withmedical conditions. So many ways to help
and get involved, We implore youto do so at the Painted Turtle dot
(18:21):
org for more. April, thankyou. Thank you so much, Lisa,
thanks for sharing the you know,the teenage Turtle with the community.
We're so appreciative of the support.Absolutely
Hi is Lisa Fox. Thanks somuch for listening. This is the iHeart
So Cal Show, all right.So as summer camps are wrapping up,
we all know that the long lastingpositive effects of camp stay with us forever.
And the Painted Turtle Camp is anextra special camp experience because it's for
kids with serious medical conditions, buta place where they can go and have
(00:21):
that memorable special camp experience and justbe kids and all totally free of charge.
Just all began when they open theirdoors back in the early two thousands
just outside of LA in Lake Hughes, and since then they've served tens of
thousands of kids and their families.So maybe now it's your turn. You're
listening going, oh gosh, ifyou know of a kid, if you
(00:42):
have a kid with a serious medicalcondition, they would love to go to
camp and have this camp experience andbond with other kids and their same or
similar situations. You know. Iwant to talk about how it all began,
how we can get involved or applyto go to these camps. They
have events year rounds. We're goingto dive into all of it with a
director of Programming for The Painted Turtle, April Tanni Hi April. Hi,
(01:03):
Lisa, so happy to finally haveyou guys on the radio with me.
I've done about you for years.You started back in the late nineties,
then open the camp doors in twothousand and four, helping so many,
I mean, really sick kids.The list of ailments is like, oh
my gosh, these kids have alot going on and your job is to
help them have the best time everat camp. And I've met just that.
(01:27):
To see those smiles and their facesjust must mean everything. Yes,
they do. Thanks so much forhaving us, and we're so happy to
share about the Painted Turtle and howwe serve the community. A bit about
us. The Painted Turtle began innineteen ninety nine when Paul Newman and Pah
Adler co founded Camp in hopes ofcreating a place where kids with medical conditions
(01:48):
could just be kids, where theycould experience the joys of a traditional camp
experience. And now, in ournineteenth year of operation, we've served over
one hundred forty thousand children with piousmedical conditions and their families. Now,
can I ask so famous Paul Newmanand Paige Adler, who is also married
to the famous Lou Adler of thesunset strip in the music world, and
shout out to his son Nick Addler, who I know and he's been talking
(02:10):
about this organization for years, andthe legendary Paul Newman whose products just continue
to raise so much money to giveback. But what made and what propelled
Paul Newman and Paige Addler to launchthis and make it their mission to provide
this super positive, amazing camp exprancefor really sick kids. Yeah, Paul
(02:32):
Newman always said he wanted to acknowledgeluck, the good luck and fortune he's
had in his life and maybe thenot so good luck that some of the
children that come to our camp program'sexperience. And so our founder Page had
volunteered at Paul's Serious Fund camps inConnecticut, the first camp that Paul Newman
(02:53):
started, and she was hooked andyou know, really determined to bring that
type of program here to the childrenand communities across California and really again with
the yeah, with the goal ofgetting kids who faced some really tough circumstances
in their lives to have a placewhere they're safe, they you know,
(03:15):
their medical needs could be taken careof, and that they can be kids
and experience the joys of camp.And I know that you have events year
round and events and fundraisers, buthow does a summer camp work. How
does the scheduling of it all workso that we can plan ahead for next
year and apply to get some morekids involved. Yeah, we just concluded
our summer It was amazing to welcomeunderds of children to our program. And
(03:39):
how our summer program works is thatwe host eight typically eight medical conditions summer
camp sessions. So they're all justabout a week long, five or six
days, and it's all grouped bymedical conditions. So we'll have a session
for kids with SkELL to displaysia orkidney disease, and transplants. And this
(04:00):
allows us to offer program that's reallytailored to the needs of a medical condition
group, ensure that all of theservices and programs we provide are as inclusive
of our campers as possible, fromeverything from the activities we provide to the
menu that's served, to the medicalcare and having medical specialists in each condition
(04:20):
on site during the session. Sothat's how our programs structured, is really
tailored to do the medical condition groupand the children that we're serving for that
one week. Wow and So arethese a lot of kids from California,
Southern California? Are they coming fromall over the country. Yeah, the
majority of our campers do come fromacross California, primarily southern California, but
(04:44):
we do serve a certain group,certain groups of children that truly don't have
another place to go, so theytravel to California from across the country to
experience the camp like ours. Sowhile it's primarily southern California, we do
see kids from across the country andevery now and again internationally as well.
And I'm looking on your website,the Painted Turtle dot org, and I
(05:05):
see there is an age requirement.So if you know of a sick child,
or if you have one and you'relooking to get them, applied to
be a part of this incredible PaintedTurtle Camp experience next summer. The age
requirement for summer camp is seven tosixteen. Yes, that's right. And
so the list of medical conditions ifyou're a child qualifies. My gosh,
(05:27):
there's like five pages there. Godbless you, I mean, you really
are available, just so many andso many of these conditions. A few
that I've heard of, like epilepsy, fibromyalgia, juvenile authritis, Crohn's disease,
sisic fibrosis. But then there's oneslike Kabuki syndrome. There's a lot
of many on here I can't pronounce. And then and then you do have
(05:50):
you know, limb loss and deficiencies, muscular dystrophee, neuromuscular diseases. There's
so many on this list. Firstof all, I just never even knew
that so many kids were going throughall this. But how incredible that your
camp has addressed it and is waitingwith open arms to help embrace them into
(06:12):
the camp experience, especially the oneson this list. I can imagine this
list is compiled because people with kidswith medical conditions, with these medical conditions
have reached out. Yeah, exactly. When camp opened, we really we
did a needs assessment throughout the stateof California to determine the groups of children
with seriously illnesses that didn't have opportunitiesto attend camps. So some of our
(06:34):
major groups were a result of thatneeds assessment done when we first opened.
But we do serve over one hundredand twenty different medical conditions. The full
list can be found on our website, and we really do try to serve
the kids that don't have an opportunityto go somewhere else. And some conditions
are just simply so rare that there'snot a lot of population of those children
(06:57):
out there. So for us tobe able to welcome them to camp,
to ride them the medical care requiredto safely you know, offer them this
experience is really meaningful for their kids, for their families, for the community
and the connection they can find hereat the Painted Turtle. And it's got
to make parents and kids with thesevery specific medical conditions feel like, oh,
(07:21):
somebody gets me, somebody, somebodycares, you know, somebody cares
about us. Somebody wants us aroundand wants my kid to have fun even
though he has cranio facial differences oralport syndrome or a plastic anemia. I
mean, people who have kids withthese conditions, it must be very isolating
(07:41):
at times. And and like yousaid, the whole point of the Painted
Turtle Camp is for kids to feellike they can be a kid, no
matter how sick they are. Yes, exactly, that's exactly what camp's all
about. And these kids, youknow, they'll come to camp and if
they you know, they're taking medsat the dinner table together, and that
doesn't happen at their school, youknow, or even in their own home.
(08:03):
So to be in a place wherethere's other kids who are on similar
meds or others who have been throughsimilar procedures or experience as you or sometimes
you know, so many times wehave kids with a scar on their body
that they haven't seen another another childwith that same scar until they come to
camp and they're at the pool togetheror something. And I think all of
(08:24):
those moments are what makes the PaintedGirl so special. Is that connection and
finding someone that you know reflects themselves, that they know truly understand what it's
like to be a child and experiencethe medical condition and medical care that they
require. So you're doing all thisto tailor to those medical needs. And
(08:45):
again, you probably have kids someare in wheelchairs, some who need a
walking apparatus or of various you know, things that they need to kind of
just be mobile and get through theday. And then I'm guessing you're you
know, you're finding a way withthese challenges sort of speak, but to
do the fun camp things that weall love about camp. We're singing,
we're singing songs, we're doing activities, we're in nature, we're hanging out
(09:07):
by the camp fire making s'mores.Right. Yeah, that's the best part
of camps that you know, onthe outside it could look like traditional camp
that these kids are having just thesame fun camp experience as children across the
country have, you know, onthe on a regular basis. They we
offer activities like boating, fishing,archery, wood shop, swimming, horseback
(09:30):
riding. Our ropes course is adaptive, so a child in a wheelchair can
you know, conquer our ropes courseand ride down the zip line. And
so it's all very inclusive. It'sour facility is built for our population of
children, and the program design,you know, is specific to make sure
that everyone can participate in every activitywe offer. And I think through these
(09:52):
activities they find they find a lotof self confidence independence, you know,
they experience a lot of joy.Like you said, but singing, the
dancing. One of our favorite activitiesis no hand spaghetti. Uh so we
all eat dinner with no hands.You can imagine that and then imagine those
kids going home and encouraging their familiesto have the same no hand spaghetti meal
(10:15):
they did at camp. Come on, Come on, mom, wasn't a
fun at camp? Come on everyFriday? We can do this right and
spirit a camp? Yep, thatcamp spirit and that's the Yeah, that's
the spirit we want them to takehome with them to their home, to
their community, to their school,to give them that bit of strength,
that bit more of courage and independenceinto their everyday lives. And that's really
(10:35):
the greatest gift camp offers children andfamilies and everyone who's a part of our
community. So when the Painted Turtledoes summer camp, and like you said,
you pick a eight specified medical conditionsto tailor too and taylor the camps
around, do you change the medicalconditions each year and our kids allowed to
come back every year until they ageout, Yes, we do. You
(10:58):
know, there are major condition groupslash sessions that generally year to year stay
the same for our summer camp calendar. We also have family weekends that serve
maybe additional groups. So our campcalendar and the groups we serve generally stay
the same year to year, althoughwe will see new groups come in if
we find, uh, you know, a medical condition group that doesn't have
(11:20):
another home. If you will,then we welcome new groups and we're always
kind of evaluating the needs of thechildren and the community to see who we
can best serve. So yeah,so it's it's follows the schedule, but
also we do have a lot ofcontinuity throughout our programs and one of our
(11:41):
favorite things is that kids can comeback year to year. They can you
know, they's you get that experienceof camp, and we find that kids
need those repeat experiences to continue tobuild their confidence and to build their independence
over their medical condition. You know, I think in our Thephilia session,
kids learn to self infuse their medsand that's the skill they learn at camp.
(12:03):
And you know, at home,their parents may be doing it for
them, or other characters may bedoing it for them. But when they're
at camp they can self infuse forthe first time. They'll earn a big
stick with you know, the supportof their peers, and we find that
when they go home they may continuethat or they may kind of revert back
to where they were, but thatnext time at camp just like reinforces the
(12:26):
skills that they learn here, thatindependence over their medical care, or just
that joy and courage they find indoing the activities, the friendships they make.
There's a true gift in kind ofhaving that dose of camp regularly for
our community here. When you talkabout how at camp some of these kids
are learning how to self infuse theirmeds, kind of sounds like you're else
(12:48):
are trying to help them really embracewhatever medical condition they have. You know,
let's embrace and conquer this thing.You know, you're not alone.
These are the cards you were dealtright now. Maybe it's going to get
better for you in the future.You know, let's stay positive. We're
going to teach you how to embraceand really own this thing so that you're
living your the best life you possiblycan. Absolutely, and kids come back
(13:11):
year to year, they reconnect withfriends. I think one of the greatest
parts of our program is that wealso see campers, you know, experience
our camper program in full, andthen when they turn you know, nineteen,
they can come back as volunteers orsome of camp counselors and give back
to the community that gave back somuch to them, the place that gave
(13:31):
so much to them. They becomerole models for campers, and they represent
to campers what they their future selves. My counselor has this condition, and
look what they're doing. I cando that too, I can do more.
So it really just is an opportunityof growth here for kids to really
get so much out of the camperprogram but stay involved in the pain internal
(13:52):
community and we really you know,thrive on our campers kind of continuing in
our program and coming to give backas well. Mm I love all of
it, and I feel like Icould see the smiles. I'm picturing a
lot of smiling faces yea at thePana Turtle camp every single year. And
again I implore you to check outthe schedule the Pana Turtle dot org.
The schedule is year round. Isee even upcoming family weekend for the epilepsy
(14:16):
group. But you have like adeadline, so there's a deadline to apply
to be a part of it,right, so you've got to epilepsy,
You're doing a family weekend for kidneydisease and transplant that group. Focus on
that. There's a big schedule happening. There's holiday gatherings, there's events throughout
the year as you're you know,getting folks together and truly trying to embrace
these medical conditions of these young kidsand their families and trying to find a
(14:41):
way to create some dare I sayfun and enjoyment in their situation and bringing
people together and just trying to makeit more of a finding the celebrations in
life as opposed to all the achinessand not so fun parts of being sick
and living with the medical condition.Maybe right, Yes, absolutely we do
that. Campers do have these medicalconditions, but a big part of our
(15:03):
program is helping them to see andunderstand that their medical condition is part of
their lives, but it does notdefine them or their lives. And so
that's what Camp does. It bringsthem the fun, the magic, the
smiles, the community, the hope, the strength to you know, take
every day as it comes. Andyou know, everyone can use those extra
sources of laughter and joy and hopeand strength, and so we're so happy
(15:26):
to be able to offer that throughour programs throughout the year. And again
this is for any child within theage requirement that is living with the medical
condition. Sick kids can apply tohave the best experience Camp experience of their
lives with the fine folks the PaintedTurtle, just by applying online. Yes,
absolutely, our applications are available onour website. Like you said,
(15:48):
Www. Dot the Painted Turtle dotOrg. And yeah, you could check
out the list of medical conditions weserve. If you don't see your condition
listed, then please reach out.There's contact information on our website and the
application, as you mentioned does thereare a number of pieces, so we
encourage families to check out the application, you know, and give yourself a
solid six weeks to apply and completethe application in preparation for coming to camp.
(16:12):
So yeah, all the dates areon our camp calendar on our website
and the applications there. We'd loveto welcome and serve as many children and
families as possible. Okay, it'sthe Painted Turtle dot Org. This incredible
camp for sick kids. Apply nowto get your kids involved. If you
have a sick kid or you knowof one with a medical condition, this
(16:33):
could just be a game changer andbrings so much joy. Log online to
apply. Log online to find outabout their turtle grams. You could send
someone who is in the hospital whocould use a bit of a pick me
upper. They're always in need ofvolunteers right monetary donations. We're always looking
for volunteers in our program to serveas camp counselors and paths to our families
(16:53):
on weekends and counselors over the summer. We have a wish list of needs
that Camp always could use and haveit twifth directly to Camp. Yeah,
anyone can make a donation on ourwebsite which will go directly to supporting our
kind of like our general operating costsand our programming. We always need medical
(17:14):
professionals. If you know medical professionalsout there who want to volunteer to support
the medical care at Camp. We'realways looking for medical professionals to lend their
time and talents in that way.And we also have a few fundraising events
coming up, So maybe supporting oneof our upcoming events, the Pena Turtles
partnering with the Bridge School to bea beneficiary for the ro Roxy's fiftieth anniversary
(17:38):
celebrations on September twenty one and twentysecond was Neil Young And we also have
a pickup all tournament coming up inOctober at the Griffin Club in West LA.
So you know, any one ofthose ways, There's plenty of ways
to support you. Visit our websitefor more on the events, the volunteer
opportunities or ways to give as well. I love it. I Love it.
(18:00):
April Tony, Director Programming for thePainted Turtle. Thank you so much
to you and the entire staff therefor all that you do for sick kids
and providing such an incredible, lifechanging, positive loving camp experience. Camp
experiences year round for sick kids withmedical conditions. So many ways to help
and get involved, We implore youto do so at the Painted Turtle dot
(18:21):
org for more. April, thankyou. Thank you so much, Lisa,
thanks for sharing the you know,the teenage Turtle with the community.
We're so appreciative of the support.Absolutely
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