BC The Magazine // July/August 2011XX

CAMP DREAM STREETHelps Kids With Cancer SOAR

Living with cancer and other serious blood disorders is not easy, especially if it involves a child. Besides the worry and the medical treatments, there are also the limitations on what one can and cannot do. Sib-lings are affected too, as often the family routine is disrupted and more attention is devoted to the ill child.

Camp Dream Street, a camp for children with cancer and other serious blood disorders, is a weeklong dream come true for young patients to enjoy “just being a kid.” Their siblings are welcome to come join in the fun too, and it’s all for free thanks to the ingenuity of Bergen County resident Pearl Seiden and the generous support of local benefactors.

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.”

—Lyman Frank Baum

After losing a dear friend to cancer, Seiden, the current president of Tenafly’s Kaplan JCC on the Palisades, was inspired to create a summer program especially for seriously ill children. Her vision was to provide these children and their siblings with a place where they could enjoy the simple pleasures of be-ing a child at camp. The children would come from all backgrounds and denominations, and to ease the fi-nancial burden for parents, they would attend for free.

Lisa Robins, an Englewood Cliffs native who currently resides in Leonia with her family, ap-proached Seiden about a possible part-time position. With more than 13 years of camp experience, she impressed Seiden with her drive and enthusiasm; Seiden brought Robins on board, and the program has flourished with her as the director for the past nine years. Together, these two women weave their magic, making children not only delightfully happy, but confident in what they can accomplish despite their illness.

Beginning in 1990 with 20 children, the non-denominational weeklong day camp now known as Camp Dream Street has grown to include more than 160 children between the ages of 4 and 14, and is held during one of the last weeks in August. The chil-dren come from Manhattan and New Jersey (includ-ing Newark, Paterson, Englewood and Hackensack) and are often referred to the program by the spon-soring medical centers where they are treated. Par-

ticipants represent a diverse population, with about 70% coming from single parent and economically challenged homes. But there are no divisions when they arrive at Camp Dream Street.

“The older campers help the younger ones and everyone looks out for one another,” said Robins, who noted how the children reached out to teach a blind child a talent routine, and helped to share the fun of Carnival Day with another child, who had dif-ficulty walking.

Parents appreciate the personal attention given to their children–the sick and the healthy. Bergenfield resident Lupe Catala is the mother of a seven-year-old son who is a patient, and a healthy ten-year-old daughter. Both children have attended since 2006 when Catala was introduced to Camp Dream Street by Judy Solomon, the social worker supervisor of the Tomorrow’s Children Institute in Hackensack.

“What I love is that my daughter can’t tell which child is sick and which is the sibling,” said Catala, referring to the fact that counselors treat everyone equally well. However, due to the severity of his ill-ness, her son is assigned a dedicated counselor. “My child is sick, and the counselors and their will-ingness to learn have made an impact on me and my life,” Catala said.

A favorite counselor of Catala’s son put it this way: ”What can I do to make his day better?” Catala also was impressed by the dedication of the coun-

BC The Magazine // July/August 2011 XX