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Scenes from Fantastic Winter Weekend 2015   We're wrapping up our 33rd year of fun and friendship and now is the perfect time to reconnect with camp friends - and make new ones!  Our annual Fantastic Winter Weekend for 13-25 year-old cancer survivors (and current patients) is on Jan. 8-10 at the No. VA 4-H Center in Front Royal, VA and will feature a day-long trip to nearby Bryce Resort for skiing, snowboarding, tubing, and hanging out by the fireplace.  Plus our nights will be filled with games, music, and great conversation back at the 4-H Center.   Even [...]

  We had a great time kicking off our holiday season at our annual Holiday Party in North Alexandria -- it was full of food, friendship, and fun - not to mention a visit from Jolly Old Saint You-Know-Who. Plus we relieved the best memories of 2015 with Barry Creech's annual highlights video (and Bruce Steakley's photos), made holiday crafts to brighten the season, and handed out our year-end awards.  (Watch for a blog with the names of the winners!)   Santa didn't bring everything on your list?  Check out the new Special Love online store and pick-up a little something!   Help us kick-off the New [...]

  'Tis the season to be Fantastic - by making it possible for kids with cancer to enjoy year-round fun at Special Love events like Fantastic Winter Weekend in January.  You'll feel warm and toasty inside while kids like Mohini and Amanda (below, with volunteer Bridget in the middle) can get outside to laugh and renew camp friendships.  Click here (or on the "Spirit" badge below) to make a tax-deductible year-end donation today!      

Blacksburg Middle School Guidance Counselor Tammy Heft buzzed her hair for Special Love. If you've ever been to a Special Love event you know it's a complex beast.  There are days to plan, activities to coordinate, staff to wrangle, meals to arrange, transportation to worry about, lodging to assign, and all that before the first campers and staff show up to check in.  But above and beyond all of that is the other side of Special Love: fundraising.  For those who, like me, exist primarily on the programs side of the house, fundraising always seems to happen by [...]

According to Ye Olde Fantastic Chronicle (camp newspaper) Staff What is your favorite thing about camp? Nicolas (11 yrs. old, 4th year at camp): Meeting new people and making friends. Evie (8 yrs. old, 3rd year at camp): Going to the carnival because it’s a lot of fun. Jake (12 yrs. old, 2nd year at camp): Getting to enjoy doing all the things I love to do like playing games, telling jokes, singing, and dancing. Jackson (12 yrs. old, 6th year at camp): Newspaper class – it’s a good way to meet new people. Joey (15 yrs. old, 5th year [...]

Written by Angela Bickmann, 2013 Camp Fantastic Camper Camp Fantastic 2013, my last year at camp…as a CAMPER!!! There is no doubt or question in my mind whether or not I’ll come back as a counselor, even though I’ll be moving across the country. I’ve been coming here since 2011. Bald, and weak yet strong, I came to camp without my wig, knowing that it would be a place where I could show my true colors and people would understand. I had just finished my chemo treatment, so it wasn’t the year with the most fun but it was definitely [...]

Written by Tammy and Craig Sankner, first time camp parents (8-11-13) So today we dropped off Tara for her first time at Camp Fantastic. There were many emotions that were felt today during the drop off from being overly excited to tears being shed by both Tara and mom and dad. But let's talk about what lead up to our first trip. Tara was diagnosed on February 26 with a form of inoperable brain cancer. We were hooked up with Special Love thru the social workers at her clinic in Falls Church. During our first chemo session our social worker [...]