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History and Mission
Camp Mak-A-Dream was founded in 1991 by Harry and Sylvia Granader who donated 87 acres of their Western Montana ranch and seed money to begin construction of the camp facility. The camp was created to carry out the mission of the Children's Oncology Camp Foundation which is to provide Camp Mak-A-Dream as a medically-supervised, cost free experience for children and young adults with cancer.
The first camp was held in the summer of 1995 with a group of 46 children with cancer. In 1996, the number of summer sessions increased to four, and since opening its doors, Camp Mak-A-Dream has welcomed more than 2,700 participants from across the United States and Canada. Camp Mak-A-Dream is very happy to be celebrating it's 10th Anniversary this year.
The Children's Oncology Camp Foundation has seven full-time employees based out of the foundation office in Missoula, plus hundreds of volunteers who help both in the office and at the camp. If you would like to volunteer or want additional information, please contact our foundation office at (406) 549-5987.
The Board of Directors is made up of 23 local and regional members, all of whom volunteer their time and services.
The camp facility includes four modern cabins, an 11,000 square foot lodge, an art studio, health center, maintenance building, fully-accessible pool, hot tub, archery range and ropes course.
Camp Mak-A-Dream is a cost-free camp for children (ages 6-13), teens (ages 14-18) and young adults (age 19-25) with cancer. We also offer a camp for siblings (ages 6-17) who have a brother or sister with cancer. Funding is provided entirely through private donations, as well as corporate and foundation gifts and grants.
Activities include hiking, fishing, arts and crafts, ropes course, carnival and pool parties. For Teen Camp and the Young Adult Conferences, we offer small group discussions, guest speakers, workshops and more.
