Camp Hendon Kentucky Diabetes Camp For Children,

The mission of Camp Hendon is to give children with diabetes life-changing experiences, empowering each of them to take control of their unique journey. We achieve this mission through two, week-long residential camping programs for approximately 160 children with Type 1 diabetes between the ages of 8-17. Camp Hendon is a primarily volunteer-run organization, with only two paid staff members. Studies show that children who attend more than 3 diabetes camping sessions experience dramatically improved health outcomes. Additional gains and benefits provided by Camp Hendon include greater awareness, understanding, and destigmatizing of Type 1 diabetes, or T1D. Through increased civic, foundation, and volunteer partnerships, Camp Hendon is effectively educating the community on the daily struggles and lifelong complications that a person with T1D faces. Cultivating knowledge and understanding of the disease paves the way for future support and additional opportunities for children and families dealing with diabetes. Having a sense of inclusion in everyday life is important to all of us, and these kids are no different. One of the few places a child with diabetes can find this much-needed normalcy is at Camp Hendon, where they have the opportunity to spend a week with other kids who are facing the same struggles. At camp, they are no longer “different.”