Feeling Fantastic

Camp Fantastic visited Culpeper County for the 26th year Wednesday, giving children stricken with cancer a chance to forget about the disease and just have fun.

The camp, run by Special Love of Winchester, visted the farm of Casey and Marshall Jenkins for its annual farm day.

Campers had an opportunity to roam the farm, meet farm animals and witnessed six sky divers descend onto the property.

Camp Fantastic, which hosts camps year-round for young cancer patients, visits Culpeper once a year.

The camps give cancer patients a chance to connect with others suffering fromthe disease and give many of them a chance to realize they are still kids.

“When you’re diagnosed with cancer, you can feel isolated,” CEO of Special Love and Camp Fantastic Director Dave Smith said. “Camp Fantastic gives them a sense of normalcy.”

The camp shows young cancer patients that they can beat the disease, as nearly 40 percent of the counselors are former cancer patients themselves.

Smith said that four out of five patients who visit Camp Fantastic survive the disease.

Visiting Culpeper and the farm gives not just the patients a chance to return to normalcy.

“It’s a nice day of camp for our staff,” Smith said. “It gives us a nice break. We don’t have to hover over them every minute. They can run and explore the farm.”

And it’s not just the campers and staff who love it.

“The folks who put it on love it to,” Smith said.