National Meeting !

This past weekend was also the time of year, when all Camp Quality's from around the country come together for the yearly national meeting! Each camp sends a group to go to the conference and learn about each other, and how other camps function!

I was so honored to be able to go, and have the chance to learn more about the internal workings of the camp I love so much!
We left Friday morning after our fundraising breakfast and headed to Monroe, Louisiana!
Being the small town girl that I am, I am not used to air planes and got a little woosey on the connecting flight, but other than that it was a smooth flight!

We got there and spent the weekend there with some of my favorite ladies :)
We were in meetings all day Saturday so we really didn't have a chance to do any tourist activities, but for those of you who know Monroe is where the show Duck Dynasty is filmed!

We made a quick trip to the "warehourse" and picked up a few souviners, but didnt get to see any of the cast :( but we did snag a few pictures!

We need a bus like this for Camp Quality dont ya think!

I had so much fun, and even more I was able to take away some learning tools from other Camp's!

10k for Fall runathon

This past weekend was the second race in the Louisville Sport Commission runathon. It was the 10k where Camp had a team racing to raise money for camp, this is the second year Camp has done this as a fundraiser!

The weather was not the best however, we did have a few brave souls who came out and helped set up, man the booth and of course run the 10k for camp!

Breakfast

This was a first time fundraiser Breakfast we tried out this year, and I am very happy we did! Lots of hard work and preparation went into the Breakfast we hosted at a local country club, where people from all over were invited to eat with us and to learn more about helping Camp.

It was beautiful.
We heard a few campers them self speak to the crowd of their experiences and how camp became apart of their lives, as well as parents stories of how camp has made such an impact to them.

We had local TV host Dawn Gee, lead the breakfast and introduce everyone to camp, and I was so happy I was there to be apart if it.

This breakfast helped remind me why we do what we do. For the kids. The kids that hold my heart in their tiny hands, and the kids who have the power to bring a smile on my face in an instant.

I will try and upload more pictures when I get more, but I think this breakfast will defiantly become a little tradition for camp!

Halloween at the Zoo

Kosair Charities is also a big supporter and helper of Camp Quality, and they were sweet enough to give us a handful of tickets to the Zoo's Halloween "Party"! Lots of campers and their families got to dress up in costumes and trick or treat around the Zoo!
Lots of cuties in cute costumes!

Cowboys Fundraiser!

Once again, I had to miss one of our biggest fundraisers of the year because I was out of town, but from what I heard it was a blast! Like I said Cowboys for Kids is a huge fundraiser for us and a huge supporter for Camp, and has been for a very long time and we love each and every one of them!

Live shows and auctions are just a few things they put on for a huge crowd that is only getting bigger year after year!

Yellow ribbons were also all over the place, for childhood Cancer awareness!

And a special thanks to Nurse Nancy for being the photographer!

5k

This past weekend I was down by the water tower on Zorn Ave for the Louisville Pure Tap Water, 5k! This is the second year CQ has put together a fundraising team for this race and the ones to follow (10k and mini marathon) and it was a lot of fun!

We got to have a mini-reunion right there at the start line, and get some exercise along the way too! We had a really good turn out from everyone; campers, families, companions and COC staff!

The weather was good, and it was a good day : )

Yard Sale

Saturday morning I met up at Nurse Nancy's house, and helped out with a yard sale for Camp Quality! This is the second year we have had this yard sale, and both years has defiantly been a success! We had lots of help from campers, families and COC and it was a lot of fun!


All items were donated, and the traffic for this neighborhood yard sale was like Derby Day in the yard sale world.
I'm glad I got to go and help out and I even found an item for myself, which I am VERY excited about !

I LOVE 90's rap... : )

September is...

Most readers who come across this blog may already know this, but a lot of people do not know, and that is that September is childhood Cancer awareness month.
September is an important time for Camp Quality because we have another reason to try and spread the word not only about Camp Quality, but about the disease that is responsible for camp as well.
 Some of the facts scare me to no ends, but that's even more of a reason to be familiar with what camp quality is apart of...

Being apart of camp quality, whatever the reason may be; we all have something in common and that is that our life in some way or another, big or small has been affected by childhood cancer. September can be used as a reminder as to why we fund raise and why we do what we do, and its for the kids.

This month, take a minute and go to our website, or Facebook page and see what is going on for camp! We have a couple fundraisers this month that will go to camp 2014! Even next week we have one down on 4th street at Gordon's Biersch starting at 6pm


I have been apart of camp for a little over 5 years now, and no matter who many hours I volunteer or the fundraising I help with I always feel like I can do more for these kids.. The kids who remind me every day to do as much as I can, because thats just how it goes.. We help in hopes that one day there will be no more cancer, and kids can truly just be kids again without having the word cancer in the back of their minds.
This month, is  for the golden kids who are fighting and that I think is why we have a golden ribbon of awareness!

happy September everyone : )

Riders for Kids

I am very bummed I missed this event this year, I went last year and had so much fun just watching the event and hanging out with the kids! Riders is a fundraiser for Camp that more and more campers and families are starting to attend and participate in and I love it!
With the help of some fabulous companions and their families, they put on a ride (Horses, and ATV's I believe) through a mud filled track that is tons of fun followed by an auction and dinner!

I encourage everyone reading to go next year; it is a lot of fun and its something different too!

Bats Game!

Sorry its taken me a while to posting about some after camp activities! But less than a month after camp we got to be re-united with a bunch of camp family and I could tell everyone missed the feeling.. The feeling of camp in general, the feeling of inside jokes only fellow camp-mates understand and the feeling of love that is alwasy around when camp quality is involved.
I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked, but I got to see our camper throw the first pitch of the game! It was so neat to see him and his sister on the mound throwing the ball for camp!

Friends were seen...

and families got to sit and watch the game under a nice shaded area of the stadium :)

Our annual Bats game only happens with the amazing support we have from the Louisville Realtors Association! They are also the one's who sponsor Carnival Day at camp and are also responsible for countless smiles and giggles from the kids. They are so kind to us and we love them for everything they do, they are apart of our camp quality family!

back to reality

Camp came and went just as quick as I feared it would... Camp has been apart of my life for a long time now and every year, I fall in love even more with the people, the environment and most of all the kids. The kids that have the power to change lives, and do so every day with their courage and bravery.
This place changes you, and the way you look at life. How precious it really is, and how amazing the little things truly are. I am so blessed to have Camp Quality in my life, and that I am part of this family. I already can't wait for next week.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading this past week, I hope you got to see a little glimpse of camp through this blog. I will try and make posts of events, fundraisers, and the reunion just to keep a little update on camp.
This was the last picture I took from camp, bus ride home already dreaming of next year : )

Goodbye for now

Bags got packed, and lunch came around all too soon. Our last meal always seems so far away at the beginning and when it comes it doesn't even seem real!
We all sat down in the Corral to watch the picture slideshow throughout the week, it was so cute!
After the slideshow, the graduating campers and staff were able to say a few last words.. I mentioned in the last post about speeches and these were no different.
I have been a companion for 5 years now, and a big sister of a camper for a lot longer than that so these last few words are always special to my heart. These kids (all ages) have been through so much, and for me and all the other companions to take off a week of work and school is so completely worth it.

Thank you to these ladies above, and many more. Carolyn, Sharon, Sharon, and Millie just finished their last year with CQ KY after nearly 20 years from them all and from the bottom of my heart thank you so much for all you do, and have done for this camp and the people, we love you!

Friday (Easter) Morning

The last day of camp came too soon, like always. We woke up a little sleepy eyed from staying up to late but of well, it was so much fun! Breakfast was a little later today which was much helpful after packing and a long night!
We started off after breakfast with some fun activities!

 A morning easter egg hunt, with this little cutie who found the golden egg :)

Also a new event, Aiden's Lego Legacy came to visit today! Aiden a camper of CQ and his friends came to giev everyone lego's and also set up a bunch of really fun fair like games with some prizes!

Thursday Night!

Thursday night was a very full and eventful night! We started off with Huber's for dinner (YUM!!) It was delicous like always, and they are so nice to bring it out to us every year!
After dinner we headed over to the music hall for the talent show! I love the talent show; we have small acts and huge acts and they all are fantastic and put smiles on our faces!

After the talent show we headed to the bonfire for our last camp fire and s'mores. Last night of camp is always bittersweet; graduating campers start to realize that wow this is my  last night as a camper and the emotions start to flow...
This year one thing I noticed was how sweet the little campers were; if they saw someone upset or looking sad they would run up and greet them with a big hug! It warms my heart to see such love with these kids.

It was a great night with great kids and people; some tears were shed when the graduating 5 campers got up to make little speeches but I love that... Not the tears but I love that they are all here in front of me making these beautiful speeches about how much they love camp.
Camp fire was followed by a long night filled with giggles and story telling in the girls dorm at least :)

Carnival!

Thursday's during camp always mean Carnival time is here. Louisville Realtors have been with us for 8 years now putting on this carnival. We had a rock wall and a photo booth this year which were two new additions.

We get cute t-shirts every year, and the campers get big bags of goodies, the realtors are so nice to us and we all have a blast! Sorry I don't have any more pictures right now, I'll try to track some down and post them later : )