Come Out For The Cameron Can Foundation's Camp Rocks! Charity Fundraisrer

Forget the snow; it’s time to head to camp! Tomorrow night is the fourth annual benefit for the Cameron Can Foundation. This year’s theme is Camp Rocks! and it’s sure to be a rockin’ good time.

The Cameron Can Foundation helps children facing ongoing neurological challenges, especially Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida. The foundation was started by Riverside residents Rory and Matt Dominick after their first son Cameron Dominick was born with numerous medical conditions, including Hydrocephalus.

Cameron was born two months premature with medical conditions affecting his brain, heart, kidney, diaphragm and spinal cord. At three weeks, he had his first brain surgery for Hydrocephalus, a condition where a buildup of fluid inside the skull leads to brain swelling. At one year, he had surgery to treat a tethered spinal cord. To date, Cameron has had five brain surgeries and his future nearly guarantees more. He continues to be treated by nine specialists who monitor his many conditions, none of which are curable.

Dominick says while she and her husband struggled during those times, they also experienced the amazing powers of kindness and generosity. In 2011, Dominick and her husband were deep in medical debt after four years of caring for Cameron. Luckily they had some amazing friends who saw a need and answered it by throwing a benefit for Cameron and the Dominick family.

“It was a very humbling experience and one my husband and I weren’t quite comfortable with at the time. I never thought of ourselves as a charity case,” says Dominick. “We made “too much” for assistance, but the reality was we could never maintain the care Cameron needed for the rest of his life.”

It was right then that Dominick says she decided the only way she and her husband could ever accept support from friends and family, was to pay it forward.  

As soon as the 2011 benefit for their family wrapped up, Dominick and her husband began plans to officially launch the Cameron Can Foundation.  After experiencing firsthand the financial strain of having a child with long term medical conditions, Dominick says she knew there had to be other families out there, who fell through the cracks of the system; making too much for assistance but not enough to keep up with the thousands upon thousands in medical bills.

Today the Cameron Can Foundation provides grants to children facing ongoing neurological challenges, helping families pay for therapies, hospital bills and even helping send kids to day camps.  Now in its fourth year, the Cameron Can Foundation has raised over $200,000 and helped seven children and their families.  The grants provided allow families to take a deep breath and provide the necessary care to ensure their children CAN have a bright future.  

Tomorrow, March 13th is the 4th Annual Cameron Rocks On benefit, where the Cameron Can Foundation will continue our effort to pay it forward and help even more families. You can still get tickets by going to cameron-can.com.