Camp del Corazon, a free sleepaway camp on Catalina Island, provides a vital two-week summer experience for children aged 7 to 17 living with significant heart disease. This unique program ensures medical safety with a full staff of volunteers, including a doctor, 60 to 100 nurses, and a pediatric cardiologist available 24/7 on the island in case of emergency.
For many of its campers, attending a traditional summer camp is not an option. Emily Earhart, Camp del Corazon Director of Development & Communications, explained that these children are often excluded due to the extensive volume of medications they require, some using feeding tubes or oxygen, others facing significant mobility issues, and some being post-transplant, posing too high a liability for conventional camps.
Upcoming events aim to support the camp's mission. On October 23, the San Marino HS Titanium Robotics team is organizing a Movie Night Fundraiser. The following day, October 24, Camp del Corazon will host its Famfest FUNdraiser & 5k at Valley Village Park.
The camp holds deep significance for families like that of 12-year-old Luke. Luke was born with a severe heart defect, Tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia, and lacked a pulmonary artery, necessitating immediate transfer to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and multiple surgeries at just three days old, five-and-a-half months, and again at age five. His mother, South Pasadena resident Jodi Reagan, shared that he is currently stable but will likely need another procedure within the next two or three years.
Reagan discovered Camp del Corazon about seven years ago through a Facebook group. Luke’s first attendance was virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic, but at age seven, he took the ferry to Catalina Island for his first in-person experience and has returned every year since. Reagan noted, “He won’t miss it for the world,” emphasizing his unwavering commitment to attending. She expressed profound comfort in sending Luke to a camp that provides the necessary medical support, a level she hasn't found elsewhere.
Beyond medical care, the camp provides an invaluable community. Reagan highlighted how the camp gives Luke confidence and courage, allowing him to be with other children who share similar experiences. This connection is especially crucial for families, as many congenital heart disease patients struggle to find such a supportive community without programs like Camp del Corazon. Earhart also underscored that for many campers, seeing another child’s scar immediately creates a visual understanding of shared experiences, forging friendships that often last a lifetime.
Camp del Corazon was founded in 1995 by Lisa Knight, a nurse who had experience at a private summer camp on Catalina Island, and Dr. Kevin Shannon. Their inspiration came from recognizing that as children with congenital heart defects lived longer, they faced new challenges, including self-consciousness about their surgical scars. They took 40 campers to Howland’s Landing on Catalina Island for three days, with initial feedback from parents stating, “We can’t wait for next year.”
Thirty-two years later, the camp has expanded beyond summer sessions, now offering year-round programs like the Progressive Adult Cardiac Experience (P.A.C.E.) for individuals aged 18 to 25. The majority of the camp's approximately 250 staff members are volunteers, including Earhart, who discovered the camp in college and volunteered for over a decade before joining the full-time staff four years ago. Joel Rudnick, who retired at 68, has served five summers as a camp counselor, finding the experience transformative and therapeutic.
One of the most significant benefits, for both campers and volunteers, is alleviating loneliness. The camp celebrates children for who they are—chess players, artists, musicians, or daredevils—beyond their medical condition, ensuring they are seen simply as kids.
