The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, the organization launched by Hollywood star Paul Newman that provides free programs for very ill children, has expanded beyond Connecticut to Maryland.
The nonprofit this year began operating in a location near the Wye River. CEO Hilary Axtmayer said it will have a special focus on serving children with rare and ultra-rare diseases, such as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, a condition where muscles and tissue slowly turn into bone.
“Kids who need us the most, they're the most isolated,” Axtmayer said. “And by serving them through our family camp programs, we’re able to serve the entire family, because everyone in the family is impacted by a child with a serious illness.”
Newman founded the residential camp in Ashford, Connecticut nearly 40 years ago so that very ill children could “experience a different kind of feeling,” Axtmayer said.
Its programs include typical summer camp activities, with round-the-clock medical care by doctors and nurses dressed in camp T-shirts. They bring medication and other treatment, enabling children to have an uninterrupted camping experience.
Luke Yelland of Glastonbury was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 13. A camp liaison working at Connecticut Children’s, where he was treated, introduced the family to the program. Yelland's mother, Danielle Pieratti, said she was thrilled to learn her family was eligible. They first visited in spring 2023.
“We had no idea what to expect, and we spent the whole weekend absolutely in awe of what a magical, joyful, generous, beautiful place it is," Pieratti said. "Since then, we’ve been to a number of family weekends and both of our kids have continued to go to camp each summer.”
Yelland, now 16, participated in the Hero’s Journey this year, which is a wilderness experience where the kids live in the woods for several days.
“He is not an outdoorsy kid, but he absolutely loved it," Pieratti said. "He forms strong bonds with the other campers and especially the counselors every year."
Axtmayer said the organization has received positive feedback from families in Maryland, too. It received the property where its new program operates as a gift from the Aspen Institute, she said.
"Kids are meeting other kids that have the same diagnosis, and it's the first time they've had the opportunity to meet someone else that knows exactly what they're going through, and they don't have to explain it," Axtmayer said. "They can just jump in and start playing together."
Since the camp was launched in 1988, its offerings have expanded to include family camps, hospital outreach programs, a mobile camp unit, regional events, parent-only programming and home visits.
"We really do not want any barriers to participation for any of our families,” Axtmayer said.
