Camper Parent Timothy Beneski’s Testimonial for The Hole in the Wall Gang

The question posed to us when we were going to send our chronically ill, seven-year-old twins away for a week at a sleep-away camp was “Are you out of your minds?” Everyone we knew who had any experience with The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp told us how great it was. But we had been on the roller coaster ride that parents of children with serious illnesses live with.

We asked ourselves - Why take this risk and send them off for a week when - let’s be honest here - what can happen in a week?

What we found is that the world can change in a week, and while we feared that it would change for the worse, it changed for the better in more ways than we could ever count and in many ways are still discovering.

At Camp, our sons created a new norm for “normal.” For everything that made them feel hopelessly different from their peers, they found a new friend who had the same experience. There were kids who understood arthritic pain, multiple trips to multiple doctors, a pill parade that stretched as far as the eye could see. They found their people.

But more than that, they found themselves. Unchained from all of the obstacles that said, “No, you can’t,” our sons and their fellow campers found the people who said, “Yes, you can!”

Not only has Camp allowed my kids to reclaim normalcy, to challenge themselves and enjoy those things that their peers can enjoy (and so much more), Camp has also taken care of my family as a whole – from my eldest son who attends sibling session, to my wife and I who have attended COPE parent weekends.

My wife once observed that the experience of Camp is so intense, it could not possibly last more than a week. I agree. While the physical experience of Camp lasts only a week, the changes that it makes in campers, in their siblings, in their parents and caregivers, lasts a lifetime.