Camp Rainbow Campers Take Field Trip

Children and counselors from Camp Rainbow piled into a bus and headed from their camp in Wildwood at to enjoy dinner and bowling in Chesterfield on Tuesday.

For these kids, camp is more than a week of summer fun, though. Camp Rainbow allows them a chance to get away from their daily lives, which are often filled with hospital stays and painful surgeries or treatments. Camp Rainbow is a camp for St. Louis-area children with cancer and blood diseases.

"I look forward to (camp) so much every year," 12-year-old Greta Thompson said. "It's amazing...just being there with everybody is a lot of fun." Thompson, who lives in Webster Groves, has attended the camp for five years. A few years ago, Thompson was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer that landed her in the hospital regularly for chemotherapy treatments. She also underwent two leg surgeries. Thompson's cancer has been in remission for four years. 

About 30 campers and staff had cheeseburgers, fries and chicken tenders at Cheeburger Cheeburger at Chesterfield Mall on Tuesday. They had spent the day with the firefighters and police that visited the camp, learning about the fire trucks and safety. They also had time for other activities, such as learning to draw caricatures or completing an obstacle course.

The camp, which opened in the summer of 1988 according to its website, was designed to give these kids an opportunity to relax and forget about their illnesses. In 1992 the camp was moved to its current location at Babler Outdoor Education Center in Wildwood, but it draws campers from all around the St. Louis area. Typically, campers and the medical staff come from St. Louis Children's Hospital, SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medial Center and pediatric oncology offices at St. John's Hospital.

The office staff of Camp Rainbow is based in Chesterfield; however, three of the organization's four annual camps are held in Wildwood—Camp Rainbow, Camp-In, which will be held in July, and Teen Camp, which will be held in March.

Camp Rainbow runs for a week every June. This year, it ends Friday.

Thompson and Darian Brooks, a 13-year-old resident of St. Louis County with sickle cell anemia, both said swimming was their favorite activity at Camp Rainbow. They also get chances to fish, practice archery, do art projects, play music and participate in drama workshops. Thompson said the activities change slightly every year, but a lot of the same kids come back so they're able to develop strong friendships.

Brooks has a blood transfusion every five weeks to treat his disease. It used to hurt, he said, but it doesn't any more because he's gotten used to it. Rainbow Camp, which he has attended for four years, gives him a chance to leave worries about his disease behind.

"It makes you forget about the other things you go through," he said.