Monday, February 2, 2009

Celebrations & Tribulations

Two-thousand and nine represents a very special year, here at Camp Good Days, as we are celebrating our 30th Anniversary Year…30 Years of Bringing Love To Life! Despite this significant milestone and celebration I had hoped that during my lifetime I would not have to go to anymore funerals where parents were burying their children, as I had to do. I had hoped that things would be as they should be where children would be burying their parents, following a long and fulfilling life.

This past January, during a two-week period, myself and all of us at Camp Good Days had to deal with the loss of three very special campers. Two bright young men, Zach and Adam, were participants in our Young Adult Program and should have had their whole life ahead of them, and Marilla, one of the very special participants in our Women’s Oncology Program, all lost their battle to cancer. This illustrates that while we have made progress over the past 30 years, we still have a substantial way to go in our battle against this ruthless disease, which knows no boundaries. Not only does cancer take your life, but it is as if it has to humiliate you while doing so.

I recall back in the early 90s, hearing the news that a beautiful young lady, who also should have had her whole life ahead of her lost her life to a senseless, horrific act of violence. Jennifer, while a student at St. John Fisher College, had participated in the Annual Dance for Love, an event that supports Camp Good Days, of which the students at Fisher will host the 27th Annual Dance for Love this coming weekend, February 6th & 7th. Upon hearing the news of Jennifer’s death, I felt compelled to do something, because as I will be the first to admit that finding the elusive cure to cancer is very difficult, there must be something that we, as a society, can easily do to stop the senseless acts of violence. So, with the help of many friends and colleagues in Greater Rochester, as we had done with Camp Good Days, we formed the Partners Against Violence Everywhere (PAVE) Initiative. The PAVE Initiative sponsors a variety of programs and activities, such as the Sharing & Caring Program, for children who have lost an immediate family member to homicide; Memorial Services, to remember those we have lost to violence; the Teddi “T” 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, to provide youth with a positive activity in a safe and supportive atmosphere; and Project Exile, a joint law enforcement and community initiative to remove illegal guns from the streets of our community. According to statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Project Exile has helped to remove nearly 10,000 guns (pistols, revolvers, and derringers) from the streets of our community, since its inception 10 years ago. One can only imagine the pain and devastation these illegal guns could have caused had they remained on the streets of our community in the hands of those who ought not to have them.

This past weekend, on the last day of January, came the news that one of Rochester’s finest, a young Police Officer who was doing his job to help keep our neighborhoods safe, was shot in the back of the head, and according to reports is fighting for his life. Here again, we have quite a ways to go and this horrible act of cowardice should be a warning to our community about where we are and how far we have to go. We need to combine all of our community’s efforts and resources and deliver one clear message that we will not tolerate this violence any longer. If people are in possession of an illegal gun, this community will send them to prison. NO EXCUSES…NO EXPLANATIONS!

I hope that each of you who reads this looks into yourself for ways in which you can help Camp Good Days and our community this year. Make a commitment to make a difference and please keep the Rochester Police Department Officer Anthony DiPonzio and the children and families at Camp Good Days in your prayers.

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