JRA camp

[Guest guest]

Below is a letter I wrote to the principal at n's high school.

You can see what I have been putting together the last month or so.

We will never go to this camp as an entire family. It is too late

for us. n doesn't come home in the summer anymore. She stays

in California and works. But as long as I can walk, I will be

working at this camp and making sure it continues year to year. As I

state in the letter, if you can not donate, please pray for our

success. Thanks, (n, 21, systemic)

Dear Mr. ----------,

Over five years ago, Dawn Kimball and myself started a support group

in Oregon for the families and children with juvenile rheumatoid

arthritis. We started with 6 families. Today, we have over 120

families in our group for a total of about 500 people. After the

first year, it became our dream to start a family, weekend camp for

the families and children in the state of Oregon.

Four years ago on April 7th, 2006, I was sitting in our first

meeting, regarding starting this camp It was only a dream. The

meeting was at the Arthritis Foundation at noon. Our daughter had

just been admitted to the hospital the day before with complications

of her systemic JRA. My husband, Bill, had come to the hospital to

stay with n while I attended the meeting. I turned my phone off

as the meeting began. After about ten minutes, I heard the office

phone ringing and ringing. It would ring and stop. Ring and stop.

An angel tapped me on the shoulder at that moment. I got up to

excuse myself to make a call. I stepped out of the meeting, turned

my phone on, and called my husband. Yes, it was him who was calling

the Arthritis office over and over. Our daughter, n Price, had

just taken a turn for the worse, she had stopped breathing, and was

being rushed to intensive care. I think you know the rest of the story.

After n recovered, I continued to pursue my dream of starting a

camp in Oregon for the families and children with JRA. We held our

first camp, Camp JAM, (juvenile arthritis matters) in the summer of

2009. We had over 200 people attend. Each family had their own

cabin for the three day weekend, and it was all free of charge to the

families. Our time has come and gone. n is 21 now and

attending Santa Clara University, but Bill, myself, and our son,

, worked at the camp for the weekend. It made me cry to see my

dream become a reality.

But two things are of the utmost importance to me. One, the camp

must continue every year. Two, the camp must remain free for all of

the families. In that quest, myself and nine other women have

committed to run a half marathon to raise at least $10,000 for Camp

Jam. We have all been touched by JRA in some way. We are either

mothers of JRA children, young adults who have grown up with JRA, or

pediatric rheumatologists who care for the children.

We know it is tough economic times currently. If you can not donate,

we ask that you pray for the success of our endeavor.

The link to our page is http://campjam.kintera.org/

Thank you, Price (Mom to n Price class of 2007)