Yuppi Camping

Therapy Through Recreation

By Katrina McDowell on May 6, 2024 in Giving, Global

Yardi strives to illuminate the efforts and results of philanthropic organizations that drive positive change in communities worldwide. Each of our offices selects several non-profits or NGOs to receive financial contributions each year.

Yuppi Camping Motion Association is a local organization dedicated to offering effective recreational therapy to children with chronic illnesses in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, since 2011. This Yardi-supported nonprofit offers free-of-charge camps that are aimed at children and teenagers with cancer, diabetes or other autoimmune diseases and their families.

“We are the first camp in Romania to use the revolutionary method of therapeutic recreation, which has a positive impact on many aspects, including children’s self-confidence and independence,” said Horváth Enikő, coordinator of the corporate fundraising department for Yuppi Camping Motion Association.

The success of therapeutic recreation lies in the beneficiaries participating in activities where they can discover their skills and talents (rather than their limitations) to improve their self-confidence. Thus far, 1,722 children and parents from all over the country have participated in Yuppi Camps.

Yuppi Camp offers three summer camps: Family Camp, Sibilings’ Camp, and Teenager Camp. In addition, Yuppi Camp offers a Family Weekend, which is provided for children with rarer chronic diseases. Yuppi Camp will also aim to increase the number of its inter-year events yearly to reach chronically ill children who cannot make the camps mainly due to the severity of their disease or because they are hospitalized.

Yuppi Camp is there for those families to provide unforgettable memories filled with days without worrying about the illness so they can enjoy life and their childhood.

Funding from Yardi helps the families of Yuppi Camp enjoy the camps freely since 50% of the children it hosts come from underserved communities. Every contribution is significant to Yuppi Camp so that its hosting, food and therapeutic services can be of the highest quality, brought together and coordinated by professionally trained volunteers and medical staff.

“As we have learned during the years of our partnership, Yardi promises to take care of three major components: customers, colleagues and their community. These elements certainly form a great motto, but the support Yardi has given us—and continues to give us—backs up the promises with concrete actions, too,” said Enikő.

He continued, “In 2023, before the camps, they not only answered our call for help with openness, but they have also become one of the main sponsors of our camp for teenagers with diabetes held in Șăulia between 28 August- 2 September 2023. As a result, together, we have managed to offer days without the worry of disease to over 50 young people with diabetes. On this occasion, we want to thank Yardi for all the support for making it possible!”

Răzvan’s Story

Răzvan had cancer for a long time, and he could not talk about it with anyone except his family. Recently, he shared very openly and honestly in a video what that period meant to him and how he had gained the courage to accept and talk about his illness.

“Before, only my parents knew about my illness. But after my first camp, I started being more open about what has happened to me, as at Yuppi I met other children like me, whom I could talk to,” shared Răzvan. “And that is what happens at Yuppi Camps. For a week, you feel like you are capable of anything!”

Now, Răzvan is a very proud member of the Yuppi family, returning year after year to the camps as a volunteer. As he claims, “Having an illness is not a shame, and if you have a community that encourages you, everything becomes easier!”

Volunteer Opportunities

“We warmly invite everyone to gather their colleagues, friends and family members and sign up for Yuppi summer camps as volunteers to experience the magic and healing aspect of our camps first-handily,” shared Enikő.

Camp volunteers, AKA “Elves,” undergo professional training before the camps to be well-trained and ready to welcome chronically ill children nationwide. Applicants can choose from a few different volunteer roles. Learn more from the volunteer section. To register, contact Yuppi Camp at [email protected] or visit its website.

“In partnerships and cooperations, people often tend to think in numbers, but the generosity we receive means so much more than just simple numbers. After the diagnosis, the life of a family with a chronically ill child will never be the same. Still, every child and family deserves days without worrying about illness when everything feels normal again. Illness steals childhood—at Yuppi Camp, we want to give it back. Your generosity means the gift of childhood,” expressed Enikő.

Find future non-profit profiles at https://www.yardi.com/blog/category/giving.