Today we’d like to introduce you to Bernard Mauricia, Robby Medina and Brian Bonert.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In January of 2020, three longtime volunteers of Camp Reach for the Sky (“CR4TS” – a free quality of life program for kids affected by cancer) started a new nonprofit called Oncology And Kids (OAK) in order to provide safe spaces for children affected by cancer and their families to create lasting memories, forge lifelong friendships, and build the resiliency they need to heal. The “tree-o” consists of Robby “Yoda” Medina (COO, an osteosarcoma survivor, former camper and San Diego native), Brian “Chopper” Bonert (Co-Founder, 20+ year volunteer, Camp Advisory Committee Chair), and Bernard “Madrid” Mauricia (CEO, 12+ year volunteer, San Diego native and high school classmate of Robby).
Since 1983, this gold ribbon childhood cancer program has been overseen by only three community staples – the American Cancer Society, The Seany Foundation and now Oncology And Kids. The program has impacted more than 22,000 kids and family members. Annually, 500+ kids attend one of the six sessions, and 200+ volunteers sacrifice their time and talent.
On March 7, 2020, OAK officially held their launch party at Mike Hess Brewing in North Park (a participating family at CR4TS), with 240 other friends, all excited to see the beginnings of the new adventure. On May 15, OAK officially received their IRS tax determination letter. In July, with COVID-19 restricting everyone’s outdoor activities, OAK kicked off two weeks of Virtual Camp Reach for the Sky in place of the in-person sessions they would normally hold. Over 140+ kids and volunteers attended nightly – ensuring that even with COVID restrictions, OAK was continuing to offer peer support programs to kids regardless of circumstances. Currently, OAK is in the planning stages of the 2021 camp sessions, as well as offering regular meetups for childhood cancer families online in the meantime.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road, but childhood cancer didn’t stop and neither did we. COVID-19 derailed our in-person camp sessions for 2020, but it forced us to be innovative and creative, just like at Camp. Thus, we combined all six of our in-person sessions into multiple weeks of Virtual Camp Reach for the Sky. We essentially had to teach ourselves how to take all of the major activities that we do in person and convert them to some type of fun online activity using Zoom sessions for cabin time and all camp activities and producing pre-recorded videos that the kids could watch prior to our get-togethers. It actually worked out pretty well and we got the hang of things fairly quickly due to the talent of each of our volunteers that donated their time and skills to help put together a first-class program. The smiles were flowing and the support was second to none. Online activities included cooking lessons, camp songs/videos, Mud Bowl panel with NFL players, Baseball Lunch with MLB players, a dance DJ’ed by DJ Chino from Channel 93.3, game nights, campfires and numerous other fun activities.
Fundraising has been a struggle for all non-profits during this pandemic. OAK started out with a bang at the launch party but have had to continue to scrape like everyone else since the pandemic started. But we simply take things one day at a time and continue to find ways to innovate and keep the magic of our programs going to support kids that simply want to feel like kids again. With the grassroots support of the community that we’ve received thus far, we feel we’ll weather through this and find a way to deliver on our promise to lead our community of caretakers and supporters to see young patients through life with and after cancer.
Please tell us about Oncology And Kids.
For children with cancer and their families who need to recover from the emotional toll of diagnoses and treatment, OAK is the childhood oncology organization that provides a voice, community, and sense of normalcy because together, we can truly heal. We exist to help kids and families heal the emotional scars of childhood cancer and learn to thrive.
We do this by providing safe spaces for children affected by cancer and their families to create lasting memories, forge lifelong friendships, and build the resiliency they need to heal. Our flagship program is Camp Reach for the Sky, a free peer support, quality of life camp program for kids impacted by cancer and their siblings. The sessions consist of Resident Oncology Camp (a weeklong camp for active patients and those in remission between the ages of 8-17; full volunteer medical staff – chemo can be handled on-site), Sibling Camp (a weeklong camp for siblings of kids in active treatment, remission, and/or bereaved, between the ages of 8-17; trained clinical psych volunteers on-site to assist with emotional health), Day Camp (a weeklong camp for kids between the ages of 4-10 that are in treatment, remission, are siblings, or bereaved; full volunteer medical staff on-site), Teen Weekend (a weekend camp for kids 13-17 years old of patients and siblings, discussing leadership and life during and after cancer), Family Camp (a weekend camp for children with a parent in active cancer treatment), RyanStrong Bereavement Camp (a weekend camp for families that have lost a child or parent to cancer) and Virtual Camp (an online camp session for kids in treatment, remission and their siblings).
We are one of only three gold-ribbon Children’s Oncology camp programs in California. We are volunteer-driven and have impacted more than 22,000 kids since 1983. Since the start of Oncology And Kids, we have allowed our Junior Council (a group of current and former campers aged 13-20) to take more responsibility in the operations and creation of activities for our nonprofit. We aim to make sure that OAK is “for the kids and by the kids” from every level. Junior Council members serve on our Board of Directors and are in the midst of starting their own enterprise to help fund Day Camp (a camp that most of them attended when they were younger). Our kids make us proud on a daily basis and seeing them lead this organization is everything we could ever ask for and our goal is to constantly put them in positions where they can thrive and lead the next generation of kids that come through our programs.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Simply put, San Diego is home. For Robby and Bernie, it’s our hometown and we are proud locals, and for Brian, he has adopted it as his home and the city has adopted him right back. We are grassroots at our core and that is what San Diego thrives on. We love that we’re a small big-city that cares for one another on a deep level. When the San Diego community sees a family battling childhood cancer, they jump in at every turn to see how they can help and make sure that people know someone’s got their back. This loyalty runs deep and it is comforting to families. The nonprofits are deep and far-reaching and collaborative at their core. We strive to make the world a better place on a daily basis.
Our city has a lot of hidden gems when it comes to organizations and causes and it’s time for that to change. The work San Diego does in the community is second to none and should be shouted from the mountaintops. We give, we care – let’s make sure the nation knows about it.
Contact Info:
- Address: Mailing Address
8898 Navajo Rd, Suite C337
San Diego, CA 92119 - Website: www.oncologyandkids.org
- Phone: 6197860928
- Email: admin@oncologyandkids.org
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/oncologyandkids
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oncologyandkids
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/OncologyAndKids
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncologyandkids
Image Credit:
Michael Harmer, Trung Vu, Lexi Quintero, Jacob Dizon
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