Waldwick, NJ, February 7, 2023 ‒ With congenital heart defects (CHD) affecting nearly 40,000 births nationwide annually, Hope With Heart (HWH) is proud to open camper applications for its 2026 summer camp session, helping ensure children with CHD can experience the same joys of summer camp as their peers. Located in Warren County, NJ, HWH is a medically-supervised week-long sleep-away camp for children ages 7-17 who have been diagnosed with varying severity of CHD. The 2026 camp session will run from Sunday, August 2 through Saturday, August 8.
Despite being the most common birth defect, babies born with CHD are fortunately living longer lives thanks to continued advances in medical care. However, families of children with CHD report facing greater medical costs for ongoing treatments. In addition, these children tend to miss more days of school and participate less in extracurricular activities than children without heart problems.
For 37 years, HWH has offered a fun-filled summer camp experience for children who live with heart disease at no cost to their families. The organization creates a safe, inclusive environment where children can build confidence, form friendships, and fully experience the joy of camp regardless of diagnosis. During the annual six-night and seven-day session, campers connect with their fellow campers by participating in engaging new experiences seldom offered to them. Campers can also find comfort in knowing that a majority of the volunteer counselors and staff are past campers themselves or know someone living with a heart condition.
“We founded Hope With Heart with the goal of creating a safe space outside of a hospital setting for children living with CHD to interact,” said June Griffin, President of Hope With Heart. “The families we work with are often overwhelmed with medical bills, so we offer this experience to them completely free of charge.”
New campers, who come from across the country, often leave HWH eager to return the next year. Most importantly, parents report that their children return home from camp more resilient, expressing an inner peace with their long-term condition and showing a greater willingness to take on the daily struggles placed on them by their disease.
“Hope With Heart is more than a nonprofit; it’s a family,” said Payton Hanna, Camp Director of Hope With Heart. “Before coming to camp at 14, the only other person I knew with CHD was my older brother. Finding a community of kids who truly understood my experience was life-changing, and it’s something our campers feel every summer. Hope With Heart is a place where kids can simply be kids, no matter what’s happening at the doctor’s office or at the hospital.”
If you or someone you know has a child interested in applying to Hope With Heart’s 2026 Summer Camp Session, please visit www.hopewithheart.org today.
About Hope With Heart
Hope With Heart is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1989 that provides an enriching, medically supervised summer camp experience for children diagnosed with congenital heart defects. Camp operations are led by a dedicated team that includes a camp director, a pediatric cardiologist, cardiac care nurses, activities coordinators, a child life specialist, and a group of experienced counselors. Hope With Heart is a place for you to be included.
MEDIA CONTACT
Jamie Corter, Public Relations Manager
hopewithheartmedia@gmail.com
(862) 273-5645
CONTACT:
Payton Hanna, Camp Director
hopewithheartapp@gmail.com
(301) 461-0793
George Kipel, MD, Camp Cardiologist
glkipel@gmail.com
(201) 741-0683
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