New York, NY, May 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via NGO Wire) Experience Camps, a nonprofit that champions the nation’s 5.6 million U.S. children who will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the time they reach 18, presented the inaugural Experience Camps Champion for Children Award to Will Reeve, journalist and ABC News correspondent, and its corporate award to the New York Life Foundation. The award honors leaders in creating a more “grief smart” culture.
Will Reeve, ABC News correspondent and recipient of the inaugural Experience Camps Champion for Children Award stands with 13-year-old Jaylen, an Experience Camps program participant. Jaylen presented the honorees with The Experience Camps Champion for Children award engraved in elm which represents the Memory Garden that bereaved children create at each of the ten no-cost summer camps run by Experience Camps.
From left to right, Sara Deren, CEO of Experience Camps, Will Reeve, ABC News Correspondent and Experience Camps Champion for Children Award Recipient, Jaylen, Experience Camps program participant, and Callie Gullickson, Peloton instructor and host of the inaugural event supporting Experience Camps. Experience Camps is a nonprofit that champions the nation’s 5.6 million children who will be grieving the death of a parent or sibling by age 18. Experience Camps presented the inaugural Experience Camps Champion for Children Award to Will Reeve, and its corporate award to the New York Life Foundation.
Will Reeve, ABC News Correspondent, and Callie Gullickson, Peloton instructor and host of the event stand with Jaylen, an Experience Camps program participant. The fundraising event is designed to support grieving children who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling. Despite growing its program capacity 140%, the Experience Camps waiting list nearly quadrupled in the four years before the pandemic. Since then, nearly 200,000 children have gone through the death of a parent due to Covid-19, in addition to the millions more who are grieving a death due to other causes.
Photos by Anthony Behar, SipaUSA Staff Photographer
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About Experience Camps
Experience Camps is a nonprofit that champions the nation’s 5.6 million children who will be grieving the death of a parent or sibling by age 18 and runs a network of no-cost camps that help grieving children thrive. With 10 locations that deliver no-cost services to youth, ages nine – 18, from 32 U.S. states, Experience Camps has spent more than 520,000 hours equipping grieving children with the confidence, coping skills and support to live a life full of possibility.
