KOA CEO’s Touching New Video from a Montana Care Camp

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Kampgrounds of America Inc. (KOA) President and CEO Toby O’Rourke recently spent some time at a Montana Care Camp at which she mingled with some of the children dealing with cancer at the facility as part of a national charitable program launched some 40 years ago by KOA franchisees.

In the video above, O’Rourke openly expresses her thoughts about the experience and reconfirms KOA’s ongoing support for Care Camps’ drive “to connect people to the outdoors and each other,” which “aligns seamlessly with Care Camps’ mission to provide healing in the outdoors for children experiencing cancer.”

That’s the gist of this touching video dedicated to Care Camps, a charity that continues to garner aggressive support from individuals and companies affiliated with the RV industry including Forest River Inc., Patrick Industries Inc. and Campers Inn RV, which just raised $400,000 for Care Camps at a Jacksonville, Fla., fund raiser.

As a result in part of the industry’s support, total late year 2022 Care Camp revenues were ahead of last year’s, according to Care Camps Chairman Wade Elliott, founder of the campground sector’s Utility Supply Group. Year-to-date at press time, he told RVBusiness, U.S. and Canadian proceeds had reached $3,300,178 million versus $3,047,598 for 2021.

And more donations were expected by the end of the year.

“At camp,” states the KOA release, “O’Rourke saw first-hand how vital this experience is for kids with cancer, as well as their families, and even the volunteers. Watch her as she explains why this cause is ‘bigger than us’ and shares her own story about growing up with a friend who had cancer.”

Hirsch, for his part, sees the ongoing relationship between the RV industry and Care Camps as a natural connection. “People that have grown up in the RV family, in the outdoors, often say that their best memories are from when they went camping,” he told RVB. “It’s something that is fundamentally important to their well being and speaks to their overall mental health.

“And it’s sort of a natural thing for the people that work in this industry, when there’s an opportunity to go ahead and give back even further to organizations like Care Camps because it feels just like what they’re doing for families every day.”

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/koa-ceo-offers-touching-video-from-a-montana-care-camp/