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Happy New Year, North Star Reach Campily!
As we step into 2025, we’re thrilled to join the SeriousFun Children’s Network in celebrating the Year of Serious Fun, honoring what would have been our founder Paul Newman’s 100th birthday. Together, we’ll create a year full of belonging, joy, and connection for our campers and families. Thanks to your unwavering support, the magic of camp continues to shine brightly. Here’s to a year of dreaming big, making memories, and spreading the love of the mooseness!
Patrick, we hope you enjoy your monthly snack of stories about what's happening at North Star Reach below!
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Join us for a truly "Legendary" celebration! We’re throwing a birthday bash for the one and only Paul Newman on his 100th birthday! Come celebrate with us at the Historic Howell Theater in Howell, MI on Sunday, January 26.
Kickoff the afternoon at 3:30 pm with birthday festivities and cake followed by a screening of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid at 4:30 pm.
Tickets are $10 with 10% of concession sales (gotta love Howell Historic Theater popcorn) supporting North Star Reach. Raffle items include "Brown Paper Bag" prizes and a stunning diamond bezel lariat necklace donated by our friends at Taline's Fine Jewelry!
Let's "raise a little hell" and celebrate Paul's lasting legacy while supporting a great cause. Get your tickets today!
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Updated 2025 Program Schedule | |
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Last month we shared the news that 2025 would include more Mooseness with North Star Reach family camps scheduled for the summer and fall along with partner programming throughout the year. Two volunteer work weekends and four community events will fill out the calendar. NSR's weekend-long family camps are specifically designed to welcome families with children 0-17 years old who have serious health challenges. Here's an updated schedule with some additional partner programs added:
- Legends at the Box Office: Raising a Little Hell for Paul Newman's 100th: Sunday, January 26
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Club Skywild Adult Skills Workshop: Wednesday-Saturday, March 26-29
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Camp Skywild Family Camp: Friday–Sunday, April 25-27
- Spring Work Weekend: Friday–Sunday, May 2-4
- Open House: Saturday, May 17
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Camp Skywild Family Camp: Friday–Sunday, June 20-22
- Family Camp Weekend: Friday–Sunday, June 27-29
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Camp Skywild Summer Camp: Sunday–Friday, July 20-25
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Friendship Circle Summer Camp: Monday–Friday, July 28-August 1
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Friendship Circle Summer Camp: Monday–Friday, August 4-8
- MOOSEic Festival: Saturday, August 16
- Family Camp Weekend: Friday–Sunday, September 19-21
- Fall Family Fest: Saturday, October 4
- Family Camp Weekend: Friday–Sunday, October 24-26
- Fall Work Weekend: Friday–Sunday, November 7-9
- The Moose Wonderful Time of the Year Volunteer Gathering: Saturday, December 6
Additional partner programming is being finalized with the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan and others. Dates and details will be available soon. Registration for North Star Reach's Family Camps will open in February.
Moose sends his gratitude to the Dunkin' Joy in Childhood Foundation and the Livingston Sunrise Rotary Club for their grants to help support our cost-free family camps. If you'd like to sponsor one (or more) of our 2025 programs, please reach out to Cassy Sleeper, our Director of Philanthropy, to explore how!
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See Some Detroit Basketball Live and In Person | |
The Detroit Pistons can't get enough of North Star Reach as they have invited us back for a third time on Thursday, January 16 against the Indiana Pacers at Little Caesars Arena. Thanks to a donation from the Pistons through the Community Ticket Program, we have a limited number of tickets to share with our campily. To reserve your tickets, please reach out to Patrick Smith, Chief Program Officer, with the number of tickets you are interested in. Tickets will be distributed on a first come first served basis. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm; doors will open at 5:30 pm. | |
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Find Your Campfire
Volunteer Profile | Ashtyn Hare
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They say life works in mysterious ways. For Ashtyn Hare, maybe the word mysterious should be changed to magical. In the spring of 2018, while a student at Concordia University, she heard about North Star Reach through a friend while pursuing her degree in family life education.
Little did she know how big a mistaken click on her volunteer application would become. “It was during my interview that I discovered I had actually applied for a summer seasonal staff position, not a week-long volunteer role,” Ashtyn recalled. “I was a little flustered and remember feeling a bit embarrassed as the interview progressed, although apparently, I hid it well and was offered an opportunity to become a lifeguard for the pool and waterfront. Once I thought about it, I realized that it may be the only time I would get to something like this and accepted the challenge.”
That decision would be the beginning of two seasons (2018 & 2019) as a summer staff and countless sessions as a volunteer. “I went to camp as a kid and always wanted to be a counselor, just never thought I had the time. Apparently, camp magic was in action during that interview," she shared. Ashtyn always knew she wanted to work in a career to help people, especially those who needed more support and resources. Camp led her to child life and opened her eyes to how much support children with serious health challenges and their families need.
Ashtyn finds magic in just about everything at camp. “As an adult, selfishly, camp is one of the only places that you experience deep community and your truest self. I can’t even imagine how special that feeling is for the campers,” she expressed. Camp also provided some important insight into working with others. “It opened my eyes to how to treat people. You never know what people have going on or been through. I’m more self-aware of extending kindness to others as it can be a big thing even if it seems small to you.”
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Lasting Impact
In My Own Words | Emily Rodriguez
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When I was 10 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare disease that caused my kidneys to fail. After I had my transplant, I struggled to find friends who understood what I was going through. The summer following my transplant, I went to "Kidney Camp," but it wasn't really a camp for kidney kids, more or less just a week where they had a kidney nurse on staff.
That's when my mom found North Star Reach. Even though everything was trying to stop us from getting there, when we arrived, I felt at home. Everyone was so kind and made us feel like family. Covid-19 hit the following year. My family and I were thrilled when they announced that they would be having online camp and family game nights. It was always so much fun to see everyone on zoom and look forward to getting camp in a box.
I got to go to summer camp in 2022 and it was the best week of my life. Getting to hear other people's stories and not having to explain why you have to a do certain thing feels so good. I hope that soon we will be able to have a Solstice camp so I can reconnect with my old camp friends, since we're all aged out.
I'm now a senior in high school and will be the first ever student in my district to graduate with a transplant - not to mention having done AP and honors classes on top of it! I hope to study computer engineering at MSOE or the University of Michigan. Now that I'm older, I love volunteering at work weekends, especially when we play Empire. NSR has taught me that I am stronger because of my illness, and it's what makes me special.
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North Star Reach In the News:
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Thank you, Moose and Campfire Sponsors! | |
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North Star Reach is Michigan’s only barrier-free, fully accessible medical camp serving children with significant health challenges and their families, entirely free-of-charge. Our programs are more than just fun. They’re purposely designed to foster independence, resilience, and personal growth, helping children and their families to see beyond the limits of their medical conditions and experience all that life can offer.
As a member of SeriousFun Children’s Network, we are part of a trusted global network of camps and programs for children with serious illnesses.
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