Our Mission
The Mission of Children's Cancer Connection: We enhance the quality of life for children and families affected by childhood cancer by providing programs for education, recreation and support.
Who We Are
Children's Cancer Connection, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has provided support services and programs for children with cancer and their families since 1988. The organization sponsors two week-long summer camps for children with cancer and their siblings. Approximately 300 children attend the annual camp programs designed to help them escape cancer’s effects. Children's Cancer Connection also provides support groups, outings to events such as Disney on Ice, and weekend retreats for an additional 400 family members throughout the year.
Children's Cancer Connection provides these services for all children diagnosed, living in and/or treated in Iowa. This includes children from every corner of the state, as well as children from western Illinois and Southeastern South Dakota.
Children's Cancer Connection provides the only summer camp in Iowa devoted exclusively to children with cancer, and the sibling program was one of the first of its kind in the nation. Camp Heart Connection is provided at no cost to the families because of generous financial support from both individuals and organizations. Outings, weekend retreats, and hospital based programs are provided at little or no cost to participants and no one is ever turned away from an activity because of an inability to pay.
More About Why These Programs Are Needed
Imagine for a moment that you are a child enjoying activities such as playing baseball with friends, teasing your big sister, and fishing with grandpa. After a couple of weeks of what appears to be a lingering flu bug, you visit the family doctor. The physician is puzzled and sends you to a specialist for a few tests. This physician diagnoses you with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. You cannot pronounce the name of your disease, but you know that it is cancer. And it is bad.
Word spreads quickly and a stigma is attached. It is hard to walk around town without noticing the stares and hearing the whispers. You are “the kid with cancer,” and your siblings are the family of the “poor little sick kid.” Friends stop coming around to play because they don’t understand the disease and are unsure of what to say. They are afraid they might catch what you have.
Your brothers and sisters also feel the effects of cancer. They too notice that friends come by less often than before the diagnosis. More importantly, they see a disproportionate amount of attention being focused on you, the ill sibling. Parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends shower you with well wishes and gifts. For your healthy siblings, these changes commonly bring feelings of anger, guilt, and fear.
Programs offered by Children's Cancer Connection, especially the summer camps, provide a forum for children to talk about their feelings. Both the child with cancer and their siblings spend time with other children who can honestly say, “I understand how you feel.” For the child who has been diagnosed with cancer it is the chance to talk to someone that has just completed treatment, a chance to see that there is hope. For siblings it is an opportunity to learn that their feelings are normal and healthy. Both groups build a network of peer support—a group of friends available when they need to talk with someone who “understands.”
One camper who lost her brother to cancer describes the difference between friends from school and friends from camp, “When my brother died, my friends (from school) wanted to cheer me up and make me laugh. My friends (from camp) knew that I just needed to cry, and they cried with me. I didn’t have to tell them that’s what I needed, they just knew.”
Camp Heart Connection's Logo
According to John Cornish, who lost his little brother in 1987, “Cancer doesn’t just hurt the person with the disease, it hurts the whole family.” His little brother, Danny, was five-years-old when he lost his battle with the disease. Before he died, he painted a picture of a bright rainbow surrounded by sunlight with a heart at its center. He told everyone that it was “for all his family and friends who brought sunshine, rainbows, and love to him during his illness.” To this day, Danny’s colorful design signifies the philosophy of Camp Heart Connection and is proudly displayed as the Camp’s logo.
Our Leadership
Children's Cancer Connection is led by a volunteer board of directors that set our strategic direction. They work to ensure that the organization maintains its integrity through compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures and the Iowa Principles and Practices for Charitable Nonprofit Excellence.
Board members are elected to a three year term and may serve up to two consecutive terms.Click here to view our Board of Directors.
