Linus Project March 23, 2003

Painted Turtle Camp
quilt donation

On September 11th Patty Krause, Sue Vanderveen and I delivered 43 large quilts to the Painted Turtle Camp located in Lake Hughes, California. This 400-mile round trip journey completed a yearlong project that your efforts allowed to take place. The staff and volunteers at the camp were very happy to receive the large donation of quilts.

Let me say that the camp is a very different place than I expected knowing that the children who get a chance to camp for a week during the summer may never have had a camping experience before. The camp allows for special needs children between the ages of 7 and 17 to visit for a week during the summer. This year was their inaugural summer, where they had six, one week long sessions, each week set aside for a certain type of illness from kidney, liver, skin, and heart disease to sickle cell anemia. There were a total of 392 campers this year, with higher numbers planned for next year with the addition of four more cabins. For every two campers there is one volunteer assigned to assist them during their camping week. The camp also has visiting doctors who specialize in the diseases that these children are unfortunate enough to have.

The camp has lots to keep the campers occupied, from a pool shaped like Shamu donated by Sea World, a gym whose floor was donated by the LA Lakers, a fish stocked lake for fishing and boating, a huge dining facility that doubles as an auditorium, a multipurpose room and a clinic called the Well Shell that you'd never know was a medical facility. Our tour was about one and a half hours and at its conclusion the quilts were turned over to them. We took lots of pictures to share the event with you, because without you this could not have been possible. Thanks again for your wonderful donation of time and material.

Sandi Delman
Chairperson, Project Linus
Canyon Quilters of San Diego
kwiltnkats@earthlink.net
858-558-7963