The mission of Camp Korey is to honor the courage strength and determination of children and their families living with life altering medical conditions by providing them with a transformational experience in a fun, safe camp environment with specialized medical support.

All campers, no matter what limitations, can do any of the activities.  The camp has specialized equipment and counselors to assist.  Doctors and nurses on site.  The kids get to focus on being a kid.  Challenge by choice is a theme.  The child gets to choose the adventure, where they start and where they end.  They challenge the child but the child gets to determine what success means to them. 

Rock climbing, horseback riding, painting, archery, zipline, and more are offered activities. 

The children can relate to the other children at camp and be proud of their scars for the first time in their lives. 

Camp Korey was founded in 2005 by Tim Rose and his family to honor the life of their son Korey who lost his battle to bone cancer age 18.  The camp is part of SeriousFun children network with sister camps with the same mission, founded by Paul Newman.  There are 30 camps throughout the world.  The camp is dependent on private funding.  All children can attend for free.               

Camp Korey provides services for over 4,000 individuals with more than 30 different medical conditions each year.  They are 80% volunteer driven and have trained medical professionals on site 24/7 during programming.

The camp offers residential summer camp, family weekends (families connect with other families), Camp to You (outreach program that brings the camp to the hospitals and healthcare facilities in the Puget Sound), and family day adventures. 

Positive outcomes result from the week at camp.  Some children’s providers attend camp to build relationships and increase comfort with the providers.  Easier to form friendships, increased coping skills and resilience, increase in openness and self-esteem. 

It costs about $2,500 per kid to host a child for the week of camp.  Camp is open to children ages 7-17.  There is a lengthy application process.  Doctors review the children’s medical needs to ensure they can serve them.  The camp has to turn away some children due to capacity.

The property for Camp Korey is located near Lake McMurray, just north of Arlington in Mount Vernon. It's the property that was once know as Camp Brotherhood.  There are 23 existing buildings and there is a plan to add more and renovate.  They want to expand their capacity.  There are many volunteer opportunities year round. 

Josh was a social worker and learned about SeriousFun through college.  He started volunteering at sister camps and got hooked.  Once he found out about the job with Camp Korey he knew it was perfect for him.  

Before purchasing the property, the camp was on leased property in Carnation.

There are many volunteer opportunities and the non-profit is always looking for donations.  For more visit Camp Korey's website: Click on Camp Korey