2010 Camper Letter

Dear Campers and Parents,

Camp Cranium is a camp for young people between the ages of 6-18 years who have experienced a traumatic or other acquired brain injury. Camp Cranium seeks to provide a supportive environment for these children to cope with their injury, make new connections with other children who have been through similar experiences, and be able to enjoy a sense of freedom and normalcy.

Camp Cranium is an overnight camp, and will be held this June 14th-18th, 2010 at Camp Victory in Millville, PA. Camp Victory is a medically equipped camp that provides the resources for medically compromised children to enjoy a true summer camp experience, while gaining self-esteem, friendship, independence, and support.

Camp Cranium will provide one-to-one counselors and will provide a round-the-clock medical staff to provide a safe camping experience for your child. Our staff will consist of physicians, nurses, a psychologist, special education teacher, music therapist, art therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, occupational therapist, and volunteer counselors. The week is filled with fun activities that promote an enjoyable experience for your child, while integrating general therapy goals into each activity. There will be morning rotations of activities, afternoon swimming and free-time, and evening all-camp events. Your child will enjoy activities like fishing, cooking, arts and crafts, music, swimming, wall and ropes courses, campfire sing-a-longs, a dance, a music concert, and many more great events! If you are interested, please see the attached forms, and feel free to contact our Camper Recruiter, Heather Ruthrauff at 610-592-4475.

Enclosed is your CAMPER APPLICATION PACKET. Again, the dates of camp this year are Monday, June 14th- Friday, June 18th, 2010.  The specific arrival and departure times and schedule for Arrival Day will be sent to you in your acceptance packet. Our enrollment policy is a follows:

Campers who have experienced a traumatic or other acquired brain injury, and are between the ages of 6-18 years of age are eligible to attend our week long, overnight camp. If a camper is 18-21yrs of age and still receiving special education services, they are permitted to attend camp as well.

Children, who have a brain injury and are under 6 years of age, may attend our “Get to Know Camp Cranium Day” on Thursday morning, June 17th, 2010.

Campers attending CAMP CRANIUM who may be nervous to leave home overnight or may be prone to homesickness may request to bring a sibling or friend for the first year. Please contact Lexi Geib or Heather Ruthrauff to discuss this option.

The cost of overnight camp for the week for each child is $250.00. This camp feemust accompany the camper application in full when it is mailed to us. If this fee is a hardship for your family, camperships may be made available upon request. The amount of the campership is dependent upon the success of our fund raising efforts and the individual financial needs of each camper. Siblings and guests are responsible for the full $250.00 fee. Please contact us if you anticipate any of these fees to be a challenge for you. We want everyone to have the chance to attend Camp Cranium! If you would like to sponsor another camper, please contact Lexi Geib at campcranium@gmail.com. Your donation is tax deductible.

Our enrollment is limited to a maximum of 45 campers and applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Final acceptance will be determined by the Camp Physicians and Camp Director. After all spaces are filled, we will put names on a waiting list. If we have enough volunteer staff and funding, we will accept campers from the waiting list. So, please send us your child’s application and camp fee as soon as possible. We anticipate that we will receive more applications than we are able to accommodate for, so please be sure to return your application as soon as possible to guarantee your child’s enrollment at camp this year. The deadline for application acceptance is April 1, 2010. Any application after this date may not be accepted depending on our staffing and funding.

Instructions and Deadlines

Please complete and mail back the following items — Due April 1st, 2010

Please have your child's physician complete and mail back the following items — Due April 1st, 2010

Please be aware that it may take physicians several weeks to complete the form, and some may require you to schedule an appointment before they can complete the form, so please make arrangements soon.

Please contact us by email campcranium@gmail.com or by phone, (610)592-4475 if you have any questions. We look forward to receiving your application and will send you more information about Arrival Day and the exciting camp program that we have planned with your acceptance packet. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Lexi Geib, Camp President and Director
Heather Ruthrauff, Camper Recruiter