A Q&A with Brian “BP” Pritchard, CTRS, Camp Coordinator, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Children’s Camp is part of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the only freestanding pediatric healthcare system in Georgia. Children’s Camp’s mission is to help children with chronic illness or disability to experience the joy of camp. Their programs focus on creating communities of children, young adults, and families who are dealing with the same illnesses or disabilities. They use summer camps, weekend events, and other programs to build friendships that last a lifetime. Being 100% donor funded, in-kind giving enables cash funds to be utilized elsewhere in growing their reach. MyRegistry’s Gift List plays a role in driving their in-kind donations for the camp programs. We spoke with BP Pritchard about the Camps.
Tell us a little about Children’s Camps.
Our department runs summer camps, weekend camps, and year-round family support programs for kids with chronic illness.
Our flagship programs are week-long overnight summer camps for kids with different disabilities or medical conditions. Each camp is specific to the illness the kids are dealing with, including cardiac conditions, epilepsy. and Spina Bifida. Each camp is diagnosis-specific and run during the summer.
Additionally, we run year-round family support programs. These weekend-long family camps are also diagnosis-specific. When a child has a chronic illness or disability, the entire family is affected, not just the child. Our programs provide an opportunity for support for everybody in that family unit.
For example, our teen retreat for kids with cardiac conditions and transplants focuses on helping patients build a community and relationships that will continue to grow into adulthood. It also addresses the transition from pediatric healthcare to adulthood. We invite guest speakers to talk about transitioning medical care to an adult facility, transitioning insurance, or getting on their own insurance. There is an educational component as well. We've had experts come and dissect hearts (or livers or other organs depending on the illness), so the children can learn more about the different conditions they have.
Those programs sound like amazing times for the patients, as well as their families. Do you have non-overnight programs too?
We do. We run a program called Camp on the Move, where we bring the camp to the hospital. We partner with different units and clinics within the hospital and work with the therapists and clinicians to determine what goals their patients have and how we can incorporate camp activities that are fun and therapeutic.
We also have a year-round virtual program called Teen Leadership Academy for teens and young adults with chronic illness to help them transition from being a child in pediatric care to being an independent adult. Everything centers around the community and building a community of peers who understand what the others are going through.
An important highlight is that all these programs are 100% donor-funded, which is where MyRegistry really comes into play – every in-kind donation we receive helps to offset other parts of our budgets so we can create programming, reach more kids, and expand our services.
How did you discover MyRegistry?
Funny story. We try to keep track of what some other camps for kids with disabilities are doing, and we received a newsletter from another camp that included information about their MyRegistry Gift List. It sounded amazing so we immediately made an account.
We're really excited about this opportunity. In the past, we've had an Amazon list, a Walmart list, and lists on specialty websites. Our team had a hard time keeping track of all of them. What most excites us about MyRegistry is putting it all together in one place, so we only need to send one link to our donors. Yet, we can use all those different sites and still access the specialty recreation or specialty medical items on smaller niche retail websites.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us about Children’s Camps and your great work. We wish you the best in your in-kind donation campaigns and are glad MyRegistry can help.