• Celebrating 40 Years of Special Love
    A Community of Support for children with cancer and their families
  • 40th Anniversary
  • June 18
    Summer Family Day
  • June 23 6:00pm - June 23 11:00pm
    Special Love Annual Gala
  • July 23 - July 29
    BRASS Camp
  • September 15
    Special Love Golf Tournament
  • August 13 - August 19
    CAMP FANTASTIC

Programs for

About Us

“The hospitals saved my son’s life, but Special Love saved his soul.”



Special Love provides a strong, nurturing environment for children with cancer and their families through its free camps and getaway weekends, emergency financial assistance, and educational scholarships for young adults who have beaten cancer and now want to move on with their lives.

Camp Fantastic, our cornerstone program for 7-17 year-old cancer patients, is considered a protocol within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and has made Special Love a recognized National Institutes of Health (NIH) charity.

Since our inception in 1983, children have come to Special Love from the Washington metropolitan area and from all across the country thanks to our partnership with the NIH and other area hospitals.

Each year, Special Love serves hundreds of children, teens, and young adults ages birth to 30 years old and their families.

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Patients

Camps/Programs

Every year, Special Love welcomes hundreds of pediatric cancer patients, ages 7 to 17, to our camps and adventure programs. Each one provides time away from the hospital and its strict schedules, as well as the pain and isolation that come with cancer treatment. Programs are designed to provide a place to laugh, play, share with new and old friends, and even take a few healthy risks. A place where they can just be kids.

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Siblings

Camps/Programs

BRASS is designed specifically for the siblings of pediatric cancer patients, as well as bereaved siblings. BRASS offers them a place for open, honest dialog with other campers and counselors to ensure they too are enveloped in a strong support system where they can put the family trauma of cancer away to spend time being a kid, In an environment where the focus is completely on them. The importance BRASS plays in the siblings’ lives is significant; so much so that most camp counselors, as well as counselors-in-training, are former BRASS campers themselves.

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Family

Camps/Programs

Quality family time is one of the hardest things for a family to find when their child has cancer. They need that time to reconnect as a family, share some fun and laughter, and strengthen their bond during a stressful time. Special Love’s family programs are designed to do just that, by hosting opportunities throughout the year.

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Next Program

Summer Family Day

  • June 18
  • Smokey Glen Farm

Summer Family Day is a fun-filled gathering for all past and present (and future) Special Love families. We are also celebrating Special Love’s 40th year! We’ll have everything from face […]

Upcoming Programs

Jun 23 2023

Special Love Annual Gala

  • June 23 6:00pm - June 23 11:00pm
  • Hilton Mclean Tysons Corner

  Special Love’s Gala on Friday, June 23rd at the Hilton-Tyson’s Corner will be a special evening supporting children with cancer and their families, and celebrating our 40th Anniversary. Over […]


Jul 23 2023

BRASS Camp

  • July 23 - July 29
  • Camp Maria Retreat Center

BRASS Camp (BRothers And SiSters Camp) Our annual salute to siblings is back! We’ll convene on July 23-29 at Camp Maria in Leonardtown, MD, for a week of fun, friendship, […]


Aug 13 2023

CAMP FANTASTIC

  • August 13 - August 19
  • Northern Virginia 4-H Educational and Conference Center

Camp Fantastic (for patients/survivors)  Our hallmark program is a week-long adventure for 7-17 patients and survivors who are within 5 years of treatment (or within 7 years of a bone […]


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