Our Story

About

Camp Rise Above is a unique non-profit organization that provides fun, life changing camp experiences to children and young adults with serious illnesses, life challenges, and disabilities.

A Letter From Our Founder

Barbara Denton

“While working as a hospice nurse in North Carolina, I realized my life’s passion was to serve children facing the daily struggles of life with cancer. In 1993, I founded Camp MerryTimes to provide support to families and foster an environment where children with cancer and their siblings could experience independence and boost their self-esteem in a safe environment. This led to the creation of a four day overnight camp where children are encouraged to try new things, to experience Camp, to laugh, to be in an environment where they can experience childhood in a way that helps them put their worries away and just be a kid.

In 2007, I returned to Mt Pleasant, SC continuing my work as a Hospice nurse. “After embarking on a detailed data search, I realized there were more than 58,000 children in SC with a serious medical illness or disability who were not being served with a summer camp. Staying true to my mission of serving children with illnesses and giving them strength for their journey, Camp Rise Above was born.” This mission would not be realized without the work of a very hands-on, committed board of directors. We now serve children in 18 different medical populations with two weeks of overnight camp, one week of day camps, and monthly camps in all of the children’s hospitals of SC.

When people ask me where I see CRA in 10 years, I always respond, My prayer is that our organization may no longer need to exist because cures would be found for these childhood diagnoses. But knowing that may not be realistic, I hope we will have bigger, better, and even more programs to put smiles on the faces and joy in the hearts of these courageous children for that “one moment in time.”

It has taken a village to build this program. I am so grateful for those who have given their time, talent, and treasure to the Camp Rise Above kids.”

A Letter From Our Founder

Barbara Denton

In 2007, I returned to Mt Pleasant, SC continuing my work as a Hospice nurse. After embarking on a detailed data search, I realized there were more than 58,000 children in SC with a serious medical illness or disability who were not being served with a summer camp. Staying true to my mission of serving children with illnesses and giving them strength for their journey, Camp Rise Above was born. This mission would not be realized without the work of a very hands-on, committed board of directors. We now serve children in 18 different medical populations with two weeks of overnight camp, one week of day camps, and monthly camps in all of the children’s hospitals of SC.

When people ask me where I see CRA in 10 years, I always respond, “My prayer is that our organization may no longer need to exist because cures would be found for these childhood diagnoses. But knowing that may not be realistic, I hope we will have bigger, better, and even more programs to put smiles on the faces and joy in the hearts of these courageous children for that “one moment in time”.”

It has taken a village to build this program. I am so grateful for those who have given their time, talent, and treasure to the Camp Rise Above kids.”

A Letter From Our Executive Director

“When I meet new people and they ask about my work, I have the pleasure of telling them that I have the greatest job in the world. It has been my honor to serve our campers and their families since 2014, taking on the role of the first employee of CRA. “Since those early days, I am overwhelmingly proud of how far our organization has come – we serve more campers than ever, through more programs than ever before, and are consistently adding support and resources that our camp families need through our work with community partners.” One of my greatest joys is working with world class volunteers who embody the love, inclusion and joy of camp with our campers.

I am confident that our future inclusive and accessible campus in the Lowcountry will not only give our campers a place where they belong, but will serve as a resource for all individuals with disabilities in the community. I hope that you will join our journey.”

Erin Ulmer

Where We Are Going

Our goal is to create a permanent camp facility with fully accessible cabins, recreation building, climbing wall, high ropes course, and a state-of-the-art medical facility in the Lowcountry. Each summer, we will host children from different disease entities for weeklong, overnight camps. This campsite will be highly flexible and adaptable to the particular needs of each of the camp groups we will serve, and the site will host events for the disabled community and their families throughout the year. We look forward to creating this incredible facility that will serve thousands of individuals and serve the entire community throughout the year.

How We Came to Be

Barbara Van Thullenar Denton founded Camp Rise Above in 2008 during a weekly Bible study group. The group adopted her “impossible dream” of building and operating a Charleston area camp to serve the more than 58,000 children in SC with special medical needs. CRA has been operating ever since, offering high quality camp programs to hundreds of children each year.

How We Will Get There

Camp Rise Above understands the depth of commitment and funding support required to make this dream for these children a reality. We rely on personal donations, corporate sponsorship, grant funding, and community partners to serve these incredible children. We also accept noncash donations, gifts of stock, and planned gifts. Consider supporting us and be part of giving children a life-changing camp experience!