Flying Horse Farms Lets Children with chronic illnesses
have a camp experience Free of charge.
The Hole In The Wall Camps were developed to provide children, ages 7 to 17, who battle chronic and life threatening illnesses with the opportunity to have a normal summer camp experience free of charge. Funds Raised to benefit the new Ohio Hole In The Wall Camp,
FLYING HORSE FARMS scheuduled to open in 2010.
What’s Going On?
The Phi Kappa Tau Alumni Council from the University of Akron is hosting a charity golf tournament; The Sixth Annual Hole in the Wall Classic, on Saturday, June 26th, 2010 at Sable Creek Golf Course in Hartville, Ohio.
Proceeds from this tournament will directly benefit Ohio children with life threatening illnesses, and the newest Hole in the Wall Camp, Flying Horse Farms, located in Mt. Gilead, Ohio.
What is a Hole in the Wall?
Paul Newman, a fellow Phi Kappa Tau brother, founded The Hole in the Wall Camps (HITWC) in 1988. He realized that luck can sometimes play a dirty hand to those least deserving… and there are many who can make a major difference to those facing great challenges. The Hole in the Wall Camps were developed to provide children, ages 7 to 17, who battle chronic and life threatening illnesses with the opportunity to have a normal summer camp experience. Thousands of children come to camp every year, free of charge, for one week. They forget about their illnesses and simply get a chance to be a kid.
In the words of Brother Newman: “Camp is a place where kids can kick back and raise a little hell.” The Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity adopted The Hole in the Wall Camps as their national charity in 1995. Since that time several hundred thousand dollars have been donated to the camps and hundreds of men have volunteered as cabin counselors, activity specialists, unit leaders, and other camp staff.
Why Flying Horse Farms?
We have been passionately involved with the international HITWC for years. Now with the formation of the new Ohio camp, we have focused our attention towards supporting and making Flying Horse Farms a reality. With more than 34,000 children diagnosed with serious illnesses in this state alone, the need is overwhelming, and we feel compelled to do all we can to raise awareness.
Over the past few years, our community and local businesses have proven to be more than compassionate in supporting the Akron Phi Tau chapter in our philanthropic efforts for children worldwide via HITWC. With a camp coming to our own backyard, we hope that our excitement is matched by our sponsors.
The Real Winners
There are tremendous benefits for a child diagnosed with a serious illness to participate in a camp program like Flying Horse Farms. These children are faced with the responsibilities of disease - numerous hospital and doctor visits, being absent from school, separated from their peers and needing to take medications that often have side effects that make them feel worse than the disease itself. Their lives are transformed by the disease and they have less time to experience the “normal” freedoms associated with childhood. The camp will provide children and families opportunities to build friendships, independence and self-esteem, and be encouraged that despite their illnesses, they can and will succeed in life.
5th Annual Success
TOURNAMENT RAISES OVER $17,000 AND CAMP FOUNDERS MATCH DONATION, RESULTING IN
OVER $34,000 RAISED FOR FLYING HORSE FARMS!
The 5th Annual Hole in the Wall Classic Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 20th was an overwhelming success. On a beautiful, sunny day 145 golfers and more than 20 volunteers came together at Sable Creek Golf Course, in Hartville, Ohio to raise funds for Flying Horse Farms, the newest
Hole in the Wall Camp (HITWC) located in Mt. Gilead, Ohio. Outing participants had a great day of sun and fun, which included lunch, golf and a steak dinner afterwards. In addition, each golfer received a “goodie bag” full of snacks, golf items, valuable gift certificates and discount coupons all donated by our sponsors. The day ended with a Silent Auction, where golfers enjoyed bidding on items donated by many local retailers and golf courses.
Thanks to the generous contributions from more than 70 sponsors and the outing participants, the day’s events generated upward of $17,000 for Flying Horse Farms, exceeding last year’s total. And to top it all off, the founders of Flying Horse Farms camp, David and Jenni Belford, again matched 100% of the dollars raised to bring the total over $34,000! The Alumni of the Alpha Phi Chapter of Phi Kappa Tau, from the University of Akron, who organized and hosted the event, were both proud and humbled by the generosity of the sponsors and participants. Spanky Raymond, the tournament chairman said, “We are thrilled with this year’s results and the continued growth of this event.
We have been passionately involved with the international HITWC for years.
Now with the formation of the new Ohio camp, we are excited about bringing awareness to Flying Horse Farms and making this camp in our back yard a reality. We praise and appreciate all of the sponsors, participants, donors, volunteers, and alumni that helped make this the largest charity golf outing ever hosted and organized by the Akron Phi Kappa Tau Alumni.” As the Midwest’s first HITWC, Flying Horse Farms will open to serve children with serious illness throughout Ohio and surrounding states in the fall of 2010. More information about Flying Horse Farms can be found at www.flyinghorsefarms.org. For more information on Akron Phi Kappa Tau and the 5th annual HITWC golf outing photos visit www.fhfgolf.com.
Flying Horse Away
The hospitals and children across Ohio are anxiously waiting for the opening of Flying Horse Farms in the fall of 2010. Until that time the Flying Horse Away program was initiated to send a limited number of children from Ohio to some of the Hole in the Wall Camps (HITWC) throughout the U.S. Flying Horse Away is a free program for campers and families that has been formed with support from eight children’s hospitals across Ohio, including Akron’s Children Hospital. The program not only ensures placement of our Ohio children with serious illnesses at a HITWC, it also provides travel arrangements free of charge. If not for the Flying Horse Away program, these travel expenses could be quite substantial to the many families financially burdened with medical bills.
Thanks to generous donors and hard-working hospital staff throughout Ohio, last year’s program included 75 campers, many experiencing their first summer camp ever.
Unbridle the Laughter
As the Midwest’s first Hole in the Wall Camp, Flying Horse Farms will open to serve children with serious illness throughout Ohio and surrounding states. This year-round camp will provide a fun, safe and supportive environment all free of charge. The camp slogan, “unbridle the laughter,” goes to the heart of the camp and what it will achieve. Summer programs will serve 120 campers per week during the 8 to 10 weeklong sessions. Up to 2,500 children and families will be served per year with the opening of Flying Horse Farms!
The Need and How You Can Help
With the more than 34,000 children diagnosed with serious illnesses in the state of Ohio, the need is overwhelming and obvious. Your help is desperately needed. Although many major contributors have stepped up, the cost in creating of Flying Horse Farms with all the required medical equipment is a tall order. Financial donations are greatly needed as Flying Horse Farms is “rounding the final turn” of the camp development fund raising campaign.
Beyond development, continual support will be greatly appreciated as the average weekly operational costs for HITWC are anticipated to be approximately $2,000 per child to attend camp.
With the help of generous donors like yourself, Flying Horse Farms is hopeful to increase the number of program participants to 90 campers in 2010! The University of Akron Phi Kappa Tau fraternity has accepted the responsibility of sponsoring a minimum of 5 local children for the 2010 Flying Horse Away Program and with your help hopefully many more.
The Platinum Difference
With each Platinum Sponsorship donation, you can help Flying Horse Farms and sponsor one more additional camper from our community. We need your help, as our 2010 goal is to match last years and make camp a reality for at least 5 local kids. If you know of local child that may qualify and would like to sponsor them, every effort will be made to accommodate them based on availability. The glowing face stories told by the returning campers help motivate and continue the expansion of the Flying Horse Away program untilthe Ohio Flying Horse Farms camp can open
it’s doors.
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