Dare to Dream Atlanta will benefit Aurora Day Camp, a proud member of the Sunrise Association whose mission is to bring back the joys of childhood to children with cancer and their siblings world-wide, through the creation of Day Camps, Year–Round Programs and In-Hospital Recreational Activities, all offered free of charge, right here in Atlanta. In the last year alone, the Sunrise Association has served over 5,000 children worldwide.
 
Aurora Day Camp is Georgia’s only full-summer day camp for children with cancer and their siblings ages 31⁄2 - 16. Aurora Day Camp changes months of loneliness and isolation into summers filled with sunshine, laughter and happiness. And because Aurora is a day camp, it does all this while allowing the children to continue their medical treatment and enjoy the comfort and safety of their own homes at night. Aurora Fun-days, our year-round reunion programs re-unite campers with their friends through- out the year. Our volunteer driven in-hospital program, Aurora on Wheels, provides camp like programs at both Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta - Scottish Rite and Egleston.
 
We think about the big things that cancer takes away all the time – the birthdays, the vacations, the first day of school – but there are many small things it takes away too – the family dinners that are ruined because of nausea, the visit to a friend’s house due to fear of infection, the special evenings abruptly ended when a child needs to be rushed to the emergency room because of a spike in fever. Cancer takes away so much from not only our kids, but their families too – which is why everything we do at Aurora is an attempt to bring a little bit of normalcy back to our kids who had to grow up too soon.
 
All we want to do is give the children a magical seven-week long summer, provide wonderful reunion programs throughout the year, and get into the hospitals and help children through grueling chemotherapy treatments. All of this cannot be done without community support. And without supporters, there is no camp. Rightly so, this evening benefit is called Dare to Dream, and it is about believing in the magic of camp, and the joy of a normal childhood. The event will consistent of a cocktail hour, silent auction, dinner, honoree ceremony recognizing our medical and community partners, and a mission call that encourages attendees to help send kids to camp through their donations.
 
Our goal is to raise $225,000. Without these critical funds, we would be unable to provide camp to the children of Atlanta.