Description
Dragonfly Forest, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization is committed to offering seriously ill and special needs children the opportunity to enjoy an overnight camp experience in an environment that is safe, equipped to meet a variety of physical and medical needs, nurturing, and filled with activities that allow each child to reach their "full fun."
Dragonfly Forest is designed for children living with serious illnesses and disorders suffering physically and emotionally not only from coping with the treatments necessary to sustain life, but also from coping with the loss of their childhood. These children spend much of their lives in medical facilities with adults rather than at playgrounds and with other children just being kids.
According to Laura Jansen, Chairman of Dragonfly Forest, Inc., "Right now there are nearly 4,000 children between 6 - 18 years of age from Central and Eastern Pennsylvania who are living with cancer or serious blood diseases such as Sickle Cell and Hemophilia. If you add the other thousands of children with other, very serious, illnesses that prevent them from attending any sort of mainstream summer camp, you can see why we are excited to be moving into our second phase of operation in the Delaware Valley."
Dragonfly Forest is designed specifically for children who are non-contagious and physically capable of enjoying the range of experiences offered by an overnight camp program. Most of these children are unable to attend mainstream camps either because of the nature of their often-lengthy and debilitating illnesses that require close observation and monitoring or because they feel like outcasts in a mainstream setting.
