Welcome to Okizu! For 42 years, Camp Okizu has offered support programs to families who have a child diagnosed with cancer. Camp Okizu has become a second family and a home-away-from-home for thousands of patients, siblings, and parents.
The mission of Okizu is to help all members of families affected by childhood cancer to heal through peer support, respite, mentoring, and recreational programs.
We would like to recognize The Taylor Family Foundation for sponsoring sessions of Camp Okizu this summer! The Taylor Family Foundation’s mission is to preserve the wellness and enhance the quality of life for children in Northern California with life-threatening and chronic illnesses, disabilities and youth at-risk through unique therapeutic experiences and support.
Family Camp is a chance for the patient, siblings, and parents to come together with other families who are coping with the challenges of navigating the pediatric cancer world. Each session includes some family activity time as well as designated times for parents and kids to meet separately for some targeted peer support.
For campers who are 18-25 and too old to attend summer camp, we offer the TNT program. This weekend-long program is for older teen and young adult patients and siblings to have an opportunity to enjoy the support and friendship of the Okizu experience even after they have aged out of summer camp.
In their everyday lives, it is so rare for a teenager to meet someone their own age who has lost a sibling to cancer. Our bereaved teen program provides teens and young adults, ages 13 – 25, the opportunity to bond with a group in their own age range who share the experience of losing a brother or sister to cancer can be extremely healing.
Learn more about our programs and connect with other families affected by childhood cancer at our one-day picnic events. Pack a lunch for your family and come have fun with Okizu at a picnic space near you!
Since 1982, thousands of children with cancer have experienced the thrill of summer camp at Camp Okizu. Courage and hope are plentiful and friends abound. At camp, children rediscover that they are children and not just cancer patients.
We offer a variety of medically-supervised residential camping programs throughout the year. All our programs are free.
Going through this feels
like we have been in a war zone
and this is a place of joy, peace, and tranquility.
It is very healing
to be in a beautiful setting and to play again.
We spend so much time in the hospital
and this is the antidote.
It helps us relearn
how to relax and be a family.
— Okizu Parent
Oncology Camp
A camping experience is invaluable to children undergoing and recovering from cancer treatments. Camp provides a wonderful setting, outside the hospital, where children can meet other kids who have lost their hair during chemotherapy, had to face a limb amputation, or suffered a relapse after months or years off treatment. For many, it is the happy memories of camp and the anticipation of next year that help them through their painful treatments and diagnostic procedures.
The resident camp program allows the campers to experience fun, adventure, independence, camaraderie, and learning in an outdoor setting with kids who have shared the cancer experience. The planning of activities is done by the campers in their cabin group under the guidance of a trained counselor.
Expert medical supervision is provided by the pediatric oncology departments from the participating hospitals. All prescription medications (oral, inhaled, inject, and intravenous) are administered at camp as needed by licensed nurses and physicians.
Air-conditioned buses provide transportation to camp from Palo Alto, the East Bay, Sacramento and the Fairfield area. You may also drive your child to camp.
There is no charge to send your child to Oncology Camp. The camping experiences are made possible through the financial support of foundations, community organizations, and individuals.Family Camp is an experience designed to give families a few days of support, fun, and relaxation. It is a chance to enjoy time with your family, and participate in activities like archery, fishing, and stargazing. Family Camp also provides an opportunity to connect and build friendships with families who understand what it means to raise children through the cancer diagnosis.
These weekends are offered free of charge and are all medically-supervised. All meals are planned and prepared by our talented kitchen staff and served in our state-of-the-art lodge, so there is no need to worry about cooking!
Family camp also serves as a great introduction to our campsite and volunteers and is an excellent opportunity to learn more about our summer camp programs.
All of our Family Camps will be held at Camp Okizu in Berry Creek, California, 70 miles north of Sacramento. The terrain is a beautiful combination of gently rolling hills with open meadow pastures and abundant tree coverage.
Family Camp is a chance to make s’mores with your kids around the campfire while connecting with a warm and understanding group of people.
The Bereaved Family Camp is for families who have lost a child to cancer. The programming and discussion groups are geared specifically for these families.
All of the other Family Camps are open to all families that fall into our service group. Some weekends also have additional resources for families with certain diagnoses, Spanish-speaking families, etc.
Family Camp is available to the patient and their immediate family, which includes two custodial adults or one custodial adult and a guest, as well as the patient’s siblings. Pediatric patients of any age and their families are welcome to attend.SIBS (Siblings) Camp offers week-long camps for brothers and sisters of oncology patients. It offers summer fun and peer support for siblings ages 6-17.
SIBS (Special and Important Brothers and Sisters) Camp gives these children the opportunity to discover that they are not the only ones coping with the difficulties that accompany having a sibling with cancer.
One of only a few such camps in the United States, SIBS Camp provides the chance to share support with their peers in a residential camping setting. Campers can learn new skills and get support from others who have experienced having a brother or sister with cancer.Teens-N-Twenties
Several times each year, weekend recreation and support programs are provided for 18-25-year-old oncology patients and their siblings. These Teens-N-Twenties (TNT) weekends provide young adults with an ongoing opportunity to build and strengthen friendships and give and receive support from their peers. For more information or to sign up for TNT, email [email protected].
TNT offers four weekend-long trips each year:
In January or February, TNT travels to a snow resort for the day to go tubing, snowboarding, and skiing. The rest of the weekend is spent hanging out, eating yummy food, playing pool and games, and participating in a ropes course.
Twice a year, TNT hosts weekends at Camp Okizu. The weekends consist of a variety of getting-to-know-you activities, our regular camp activities, lots of games, and plenty of hanging out and movie time in addition to special events and presentations. At the camp weekends, TNTers cook every meal, wash all the dishes, and clean up the lodge and kitchen before they leave.
Recent special events and presentations have included a presentation on dog sledding accompanied with sled rides for campers, a presentation about wildlife rehabilitation (with lots of birds and other animal guests), and lots of themed weekends with silly games and events.
Once a year we also do a city trip. The city trip is an overnight in a northern California city. We see some of the city sites (sometimes through a scavenger hunt, team puzzle, or activity), do a community service project, go out to dinner, and stay at a local hotel. Recent cities include Monterey Bay, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco.
The campers say it best.
I go to TNT to be connected with friends
and make new ones,
also to get away from the real world for a bit
and be able to feel accepted with no judgment.
At TNT, I am just me,
but when I am with my friends at school
I am the one that had cancer
and they don’t understand
what I have been through.
Sp often, it always feel like there is a wall
that blocks that connection,
but at camp, the wall comes down
and I feel so connected
to the people that come to camp.
— TNT Camper
Being a counselor at Okizu is amazing!
But what’s equally, if not more amazing,
is getting to be a camper again.
TNT makes that happen!
Getting to hang with your fellow campers
makes it an explosively good time.
— TNT Camper
TNT is a place to be “a camper”
even though the real world tells us we are adults.
It’s a place to build friendships that last a lifetime
and a place to find support.
We have great times together
and create memories that last a lifetime.
I cannot possibly list all of the reasons
why TNT is important to me,
but it brings the spirit of Okizu to us all,
all year round.
— TNT Camper
Okizu is a very special camp, offering a free opportunity for those living with cancer to learn independence, nourish positive self-esteem, and gain skills they never thought were possible.
83 Hamilton Drive, Suite 200
Novato, California 94949
415-382-9083
[email protected]
okizu.org
Leave a Reply