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Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times

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Ronald and Nancy Reagan visiting Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times in 1987.

Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times is a California-based charitable camp for children with cancer. The camp was established in 1982 by Pepper Edmiston, a Los Angeles woman whose oldest son, David, had leukemia. Edmiston couldn’t find a summer camp that would take a boy with cancer, so she started her own camp, one that would be free to young cancer patients from all over Southern California.[1] The charity drew financial and organizational support from numerous celebrities, with Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson playing prominent roles in its early growth.

History

The predecessor of the camp was a project announced in November 1977 to build a temporary home for up to 16 seriously ill children and their families to stay during treatment, sponsored by the Los Angeles Rams football team, the McDonald's Operators of Southern California, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. The house was to be owned and operated by a nonprofit group formed for this purpose, Southern California Children's Cancer Services.[2] Construction began in June 1979, and by March 1980, about two thirds of the necessary funds had been raised, with the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team joining the effort.[3] In 1983, Southern California Children's Cancer Services sponsored two five-night summer camp programs in Malibu for children with cancer, naming the program Camp Good Times.[4]

In February 1984, a fundraising drive for Camp Good Times was supported by Michael Jackson, Richard Chamberlain, O. J. Simpson, David Soul, Neil Diamond, and Dustin Hoffman.[5] Later in 1984, Camp Good Times was renamed Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times.[6] Dustin Hoffman had become interested in the charity due to the experience of his nephew, who visited the camp while fighting leukemia.[5] Hoffman and Michael Jackson, another of the most significant contributors to the effort, were considered the "Founding Fathers" of the camp.[7] Following the 1984 Victory Tour, headlined by The Jackson 5 and showcasing Jackson's solo material, Jackson donated his entire share of the proceeds, an estimated $3 to 5 million, to charity.[8] Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times was one of three major recipients of these donations, enabling the charity to build a year-round facility.[9] All profits from Jackson's February 1988 single, "Man in the Mirror", the fourth consecutive number one single from Jackson's album, Bad, also went to this charity.[7]

In 1985, Michael Landon filmed a two episodes of the NBC series Highway to Heaven at the camp, allowing some children at the camp to appear in the episodes.[10] The episodes, "A Song for Jason: Episode 1" and "A Song for Jason: Episode 2", opened season 2 of the show, and aired on September 18 and 25, 1985. Between the two episodes, Brian Lane Green, Robin Riker, Giovanni Ribisi, Joshua John Miller, and Barry Williams guest starred either as children at the camp or their parents.[11]

President Ronald Reagan visited the camp in 1987 to speak to children there, and made a personal donation to support it.[12] He visited the camp again as a former president in 1989, welcoming four girls from the Soviet Union who were recovering from cancer.[13] For the first camp session, executive director Pepper Edmiston, who had participating in founding the camp, sought out Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, which she had attended as a child. Her parents, Janet and Max Salter underwrote the week while Edmiston spent several months contacting parents of young patients, convincing them their children could thrive at camp.[14]

Edmiston was removed from her position on the board of directors in 1993, claiming that her ousting resulted from her taking children to the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, which Edmiston asserted was opposed by McDonald's due to disagreement with Clinton's health care policies.[15] Donors who supported Edmiston then sued the camp, alleging misuse of funds.[15] The following year, Edminston started the competing Happy Trails Camp, also in California, to enable disabled children to work with and ride horses.[16]

The camp later moved to a 60-acre site in the San Jacinto Mountains, and in 2006, Representative Mary Bono helped the camp to obtain $500,000 in federal funding to renovate camp buildings that had originally been constructed in the 1940s.[17] In 2013, the camp had to be evacuated while a wildfire threatened the area.[18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Gorman, Gary (September 5, 1990). "Camp's Young Cancer Patients Learn They Aren't Alone". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ John Hollon, "Home for Critically Ill Children Planned", Los Angeles Times (November 30, 1977), p. II-2.
  3. ^ Ursula Vils, "Disease Leads to 'Housing Project'", Los Angeles Times (March 10, 1980), p. V-2, 7.
  4. ^ "Special Camp For Young Cancer Victims", The Signal (August 10, 1983), p. 17.
  5. ^ a b Liz Smith, "It's 'heart' to tell whether twosome is pair or 2 ones", The Tampa Tribune (February 14, 1984), p. 7-D.
  6. ^ "Camp Ronald McDonald to Be Held at Malibu Ranch", Los Angeles Times (August 10, 1984), p. V-7.
  7. ^ a b Taraborrelli 2009, p. 382.
  8. ^ Taraborrelli 2009, p. 314-320.
  9. ^ "Michael Jackson: Three charities to benefit from his 'Victory Tour'", Escondido Times-Advocate (September 27, 1984), p. A2.
  10. ^ Bricker, Rebecca (June 10, 1985). "Take One". People.
  11. ^ "Highway to Heaven: Season 2, Episode 1, A Song for Jason". TV Guide. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  12. ^ Vaughn Proctor, "Reagan pays call on camp, The Lompoc Record (April 19, 1987), p. 1, 12.
  13. ^ "For the Kids", The White Plains Journal News (August 31, 1989), p. 3.
  14. ^ "Camp gives cancer patients Good Times", Daily News (July 16, 1984), LA Life section.
  15. ^ a b Russell, Ron (July 2, 1993). "McDonald's Embroiled in Charity Dispute: Aid: Camp Good Times founder Pepper Edmiston says she was dumped from office for defying burger giant's wishes". Los Angeles Times.
  16. ^ Beverly Beyette, "Happy Trails Are Here Again", Los Angeles Times (December 9, 1994), p. B10.
  17. ^ "Camp Ronald McDonald receives federal funds", The Desert Sun (September 2, 2006), p. B2.
  18. ^ Johnson, Alex (July 18, 2013). "Hundreds evacuated from children's camps in path of raging Southern California wildfire". NBC News.
  19. ^ "Residents flee as fire shifts toward towns", Honolulu Star-Advertiser (July 18, 2013), p. A5.

Sources

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