Every year since 1993 the Firefighters Burn Institute has hosted a week-long summer camp for kids who have suffered serious burn injuries.
Forty-two of those kids are in South Lake Tahoe right now for the annual camp. Most of them simply don't have the opportunity to learn how to rock climb or shoot a bow and arrow in their hometowns.
"Here you get to touch Mother Nature," says Julian. "And you get to live actual real wild."
Julian is 9 years old and suffered severe burns as a toddler. This is his third year at the Firefighters Kids Camp. Here he can experience some of life's adventures.
"After you come like two years or three years, you usually get used to your friends," he says. "It makes it like your home."
And Julian's best friend Anthony Bookhamar was here to cheer him on as he made his way up the rock climbing wall. Anthony is 9 years old and this is also his third year at the camp. He loves being outdoors and participating in all the activities.
"Nature, revisiting with old friends," he says. "Meeting new counselors. New kids, helping them out."
Anthony admits, this camp offers a comfortable and inviting environment for kids just like him who have already endured so much.
"Knowing they're like me and won't make fun of me," he says. "Because people make fun of me at my school."
The camp is run primarily by firefighters who work all year long to raise money to pay for it. But they tell us all that work is definitely worth it.
"You see the smiles on these kids' face and that's what makes what we do, worth while," says Jim Doucette, Executive Director with Firefighters Burn Institute.
For burn victims like Anthony and Julian, this is a week they look forward to. And to say they are appreciative, would be an understatement.
"I kind of got more lucky," says Julian. "Because I get to come here. It's really lucky to come here."
To recruit kids for this camp, the Firefighters Burn Institute works with area hospitals. The camp typically sees about 50 kids a year, and some have come from as far away as China to attend.
For more information or to make a donation, go to http://ffburn.org/
Written by Adam Rasmussen
