Wet weather didn't dampen fun for kids with cancer

Jeff Rosenblatt marveled at the sight of some seriously ill children and their healthy siblings running around Rotary's Camp Florida today in the chilly December air.

"You can't tell who's sick and who's not," Rosenblatt said. "They're all just kids."

The Tampa man is a longtime supporter of Santa's Workshop Weekend, a 3-day holiday camp for children undergoing treatment for cancer and blood disorders.

The Tampa Carrollwood Rotary Club and Faces of Courage, a locally-based nonprofit group dedicated to providing life-enriching experiences for young patients and their families, join forces each year to rent the camp off Lakewood Drive for the event.

About 80 children with cancer or blood disorders, along with their siblings, signed up for the free-of-charge, eighth annual camp, which wraps up Sunday .

Cary and Jill Gould brought their therapy dog, Benji, to pal around with campers. Cary Gould said the Brandon camp is the only one in the Bay area that provides a medically-supervised environment and allows sick kids to bring their brothers and sisters along for the fun.

It's also unique, he said, because campers are invited to come back year after year as they continue to fight their diseases. The Goulds have a 15-year history of volunteering at such camps.

"There are quite a few counselors here today who were campers at one time ... a lot of survivors," he said.

Mike Fox, 18, first came to the camp at the age of 9, while undergoing treatment for leukemia. Today he is a camp counselor and in remission.

Fox said he volunteers at the camp because he understands first-hand how awesome it is for kids with cancer to have an opportunity to get their minds off things like treatments and hospital visits.

"It lets them forget for a while," he said.

Faces of Courage founder Peggie Sherry directed a flurry of activity today at the 18-acre, oak-shaded camp ground. Campers, antsy after a rainy first night on Friday, eagerly participated in a variety of outdoor activities.

They fished off a dock, tie-dyed T-shirts, shot some hoops and played "Mummy," a competition between cabins to create the coolest "preserved" persona by wrapping a counselor of their choice in toilet tissue and covering said victim in shaving cream.

Shadreana Gaines, 18, sat Indian-style on the grass and laughed out loud while her co-counselors were swathed in TP and slathered with shaving cream.

Gaines had a brain tumor when she first came to the camp four years ago.

Still recovering from her medical ordeal, the Jefferson High School junior is glad to be back at camp.

"There is so much love here," Gaines said. "This camp has a lot of love."

FACES OF COURAGE

Peggie Sherry founded the Faces of Courage organization 5 years ago with $100,000 of her money. The organization serves more than 2,000 families throughout Florida. In addition to children's camps, the group holds weekend camps for adult cancer patients and survivors. Services are free. For information, go to www.facesofcourage.org.