The Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation (AARBF) held their annual Dinner and Dance at the Clovis Rodeo Hall on December 10th.
The event is a fundraiser directly benefiting the foundation’s Champ Camp, for children who are survivors of burns.
If you ever learned to “stop, drop and roll” you have the AARBF to thank.
Founded in 1971 its mission is twofold: to reduce the number of burn injuries through prevention education, by working closely with California fire departments, and to enhance the quality of life of those affected by burn injuries in California.
AARBF provides burn survivors with financial assistance, medical equipment, mental health care and peer support groups, and much more.
Champ Camp is a week-long camp for burn survivors ages 5 to 17 held every year at the beginning of summer at Wonder Valley in Sanger.
AARBF utilizes all the equipment that Wonder Valley has to offer– Champ Camp Director Chris Bridger listed them; “archery, go-karts, fishing, swimming,” Bridger said, and touched on why this camp is so important for the kids, “especially swimming, a lot of our campers don’t have access to pools and don’t know how to swim, so we teach them.”
Making these kids feel welcome and loved is the whole point of Champ Camp. “A lot of them have been told, because of their injuries or amputations, that they’ll never be able to run, or swim, or ride a bike,” Bridger says, “ so it’s about encouraging them, loving them, supporting them, and showing them that they’re capable of doing anything.”
AARBF’s Central California Regional Manager, and daughter of a burn survivor, McKenzie Dern organized the Dinner and Dance fundraiser.
She explained, “It costs about $750 to send one kid to camp, and we make it 100% free for the families, so we have to heavily rely on fundraising.”
Bridger reiterated, “Everything we do within the foundation, all the services we provide from the support groups to the recreational events throughout the year, and champ camp included, are no-cost.”
The fundraiser was a public event, open for anyone who wanted to reserve a spot at a table, and featured a silent auction, a live auction, and a dessert auction.
Dern said that AARBF sends about 150 kids to Champ Camp every year, and last year’s Dinner and Dance event raised over $100,000 toward that end.