Sweethearts' Ball founders on a mission to help Camp Journey
The founders of the Sweethearts' Ball are on a mission.
They've set a goal to raise $100,000 — about twice as much as they've donated in the past — so more children touched by cancer can cut loose and be kids for one week of summer at Camp Journey.
"This is all that these kids look forward to," said Sweethearts' Ball co-founder and camp counselor Jacob Bonwell. "I know my campers this year were talking about it eight months before. It's such a big deal that it needs to live on, and without us funding it or the community funding it, it won't be living on."
Bonwell and colleagues Nick Leonard and Brandon Bunch started the Sweethearts' Ball in 2013 as way to give back to the community. The Sweethearts' Ball has blossomed into a fancy annual event of dining, dancing and auctions to raise funds for Camp Journey. The camp is located at Camp Ross Point in Post Falls and now sees more than 120 campers, ages 7-17, from all over the Northwest each year.
Camp Journey began as youth oncology camp Camp Goodtimes East, which closed when the American Cancer Association withdrew funding and shut down a majority of similar camps throughout the nation. Bunch, who attended oncology camp Camp Rainbow Gold when he was a cancer-stricken youth, rallied with his friends to rescue this camp and reinvent it as Camp Journey so these young cancer patients and survivors could continue to have a real summer camp experience.
"When the American Cancer Society was paying for everything, camp would go on," Bonwell said. "But with us being the main funding vehicle and if we can’t afford camp, it’s going to hurt the kids in the long run, and that’s what we don’t want.”
The team wants the community to know people don't have to attend the Sweethearts' Ball if they want to donate to Camp Journey.
The website, www.sweetheartsballcda.com, allows donors to give year-round. Different online auction items will be available as well, so those who want to give can vie for cool prizes in return. Straight donations are 100 percent tax deductible. Those who visit the website can find the donation page by clicking on the "Become a Sponsor" tab.
"We're trying to open up to the community more and have more options for people to donate," Leonard said. "We're trying to spread the word to people and address the mere fact that people still don't know about the Sweethearts' Ball or Camp Journey. We're really just trying to bring awareness and let people know that it really is a community event. It's about raising funds for these kids, but it's also about building up our community."
The cost is about $1,000 per camper, but with help from the Sweethearts' Ball, the kids get to go free of charge. And while it's a great experience for the kids, it's also a bit of respite for parents.
"You see some of the hardships that these families are going through with all of their medical bills,” Leonard said. “And being able to take that relief off the families and give them a week break — it’s hard for them to let their kids go for a week, but at the same time, I’m sure it’s relaxing to just kind of chill."
The fourth annual Sweethearts' Ball will have an "all white" theme. It will be held April 8 in The Coeur d'Alene Resort. Tickets are available on the website; single admission is $65, couples admission is $120, a table of eight is $475, VIP couple admission is $250 and VIP table admission is $1,000.
Bonwell said as a nonprofit, all the funds raised go directly to camp to benefit the kids.
“We’re camp counselors so we get to see it firsthand and get to experience the smiles, the laughs, the hard times," Bonwell said. "It’s really a motivational factor for us, big time."