Camp Korey

Mission & History

Camp Korey honors the courage, strength, and determination of children and their families living with life-altering medical conditions by providing them with a transformational experience in a fun, safe camp environment with specialized medical support. 

We help children reclaim the joyful adventures of childhood, while their families receive the respite and care they need as they help their children undergo treatment. Our aim is to complement the medical care that can often be seen as “poking and prodding” with pure joy, and help children develop confidence, resilience, and peer relationships that will help them as they face their conditions.

Camp Korey was founded in 2005 by Tim Rose and his family to honor the life of their beloved son, Korey, who lost his battle with bone cancer at age 18. Camp Korey is an official member camp of the SeriousFun Children's Network (SFCN), founded by the late actor and philanthropist Paul Newman. Worldwide, SFCN camps serve more than 150,000 children and families each year. Camp Korey is also accredited by the American Camping Association (ACA), which has rigorous criteria regarding program development, safety, and emergency procedures. We have provided more than 40,000 camp experiences since our founding!

Programs & Impact

Camp Korey’s overall goal is to improve the quality of life for children, and to ensure that every child has access to camp programs in a setting that offers a respite and retreat from the difficulties and restrictions of life with a serious illness. Our campers are youth (ages 7-17) living with one or more of 90 life-altering medical conditions. 

Located in beautiful Mount Vernon, Washington, Camp Korey serves more than 2,500 children and families annually through key programs that include Overnight Summer Camp, Family Weekends, Building Leaders Out of Camp Korey (B.L.O.C.K.) Teen Leadership, Family Day Adventures, and the Camp to You Outreach program, which brings the Camp Korey experience to children in healthcare settings. The majority of our families live in the greater Puget Sound region, and our Camp to You Outreach program has a presence in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland, Oregon. Camp Korey’s programs are 100% free of cost to all campers and families.

Camp Korey provides a full spectrum of accessible outdoor and indoor recreation programs, including: archery, boating & fishing on Lake McMurray, arts & crafts, pet therapy, performing arts, cooking, adaptive cycling, Silly Olympics, swimming/pool parties, photography, campfire, Cabin Chat, outdoor science discovery, and so much more! All of Camp Korey’s activities are Challenge-by-Choice, enabling campers to reach beyond the barriers of their conditions to help build confidence, achieve success, and discover new skills. Campers challenge themselves and gain critical resiliency skills that will continue to benefit them long after their camp experience.

To learn more or get involved, visit https://www.campkorey.org.