4:30pm

We just finished our visit with Camp Nejeda, which is located in Stillwater, New Jersey.  Have you ever thought about what happens when a child who has diabetes wants to go to camp? A lot of these children can’t because the camp or their parents won’t let them because of the safety and responsibility involved.  Camp Nejeda is a camp for children who have type 1 diabetes.   Camp Nejeda is a place where these children can have a fun, safe, and education experience.

It is fun because it is a camp, just like any other.  They have activities such as swimming, hiking, and much more. Being safe is a priority there. They have nurses on staff full time that takes care of their insulin and any bumps and bruises from the day.  Education doesn’t seem like “fun” in camp, but this education is essential for these children to live.  Camp Nejeda helps these children learn how to deal with and understand their disease. It also gives them a chance to run, play and make friends with other kids who understand them.  As the Director of Camp Nejeda said,  “Camp is the place to try something new.” I couldn’t agree more.

The camp looked like a lot of fun.  It also really hit me how important a camp like this is to all the children in New Jersey who have diabetes.  I am really glad I got to learn about them.  Tomorrow we visit Habitat for Humanity and Comfort Zone, which are really interesting organizations.  With all these great choices, the decision for our 2012 beneficiary will not be easy!

11:30am

Today, my mother, Jen, and I are on our way to pick a beneficiary for the CLF 2012 Golf Classic. The CLF Golf Classic is our annual fundraising event. Something totally unique about CLF is that we don’t actually raise any funds for our foundation.  My family provides the funding that we give out during the year through grants.  In addition to these grants, each year we go out and find a different needy cause and then hold an event to raise funds just for them.  All the money that we raise goes straight to the organization.  Even better, we match every dollar raised.  The people that donate come play golf, eat, and learn about the organization that we are supporting.

Last year, we visited many great organizations, but the one that fit our mission best was Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County (BBBS). If you have seen the movie 27 Dresses, you might have heard of this organization. BBBS pairs up an adult, a “Big” as they call it, with an at risk child, a “Little.”  To be considered a child at risk means someone who needs additional adult support, mentoring and guidance. There could be a multitude of reasons why a child might be at risk.  Having an extra adult role model can help them by providing someone they can go to for direction, support and even just having a good time. We raised $400,000 last year at our event and BBBS was able to branch out and help more children.

This week we will visit Camp Nejeda, Patterson Habitat for Humanity, Comfort Zone, and Family Promise to see which one is the best fit for our event.  I will let you know how it goes!

Last spring my class was reading a short fictional story called Flowers for Algernon. It is about a mentally retarded man, named Charlie, who really wants to learn. He wanted to learn to read and write so badly he was going to have an operation to triple his IQ, which was 68, even though there were serious risks. Algernon is the name of the mouse that was going to have the same operation. Fearing I will give it away, I really don’t want to say more about the story than that.

It is an excellent book.  One that really makes you think about life.  The story shows you that even though people may have a disability, it doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings or opinions.

I finished reading early and started to write a poem about my thoughts. In the poem, when I write about how you try so hard for so long, I am saying how people with disabilities must try incredibly hard to do things that I can do easily and I must not take it for granted. Kids complain about homework all the time.  But anyone who has the ability to learn without a disability should see it as a gift.  We should treasure it because for some people it does not come as easily and they would do anything for it.

Here is my poem:

Life gives you lemons,
you make lemonade.
Life gives you nothing,
and nothing is made.

You try all your life,
to be right not wrong.
You fight through the hard times,
but the hard times are very long.

Life isn’t fair,
even in your dreams.
Life can be a nightmare,
with people being mean.

Life makes you smile,
angry, or frown.
Life brings your sprit up,
even when it’s down.

Life hurts and pleases,
laughs and cries.
Life throws you a curve ball,
and says TRY.

By Kyra Citron