(Photo: Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
By Jacob Magid and video by Luke Tress - August 26 2018
Every day at Camp Sunrise begins with children from every age group gathering together at the amphitheater for a talent show.
The campers organize and emcee the affair; and on this particular day, 8-year-old Liron is called on stage to perform.
Katrix & Doron Biton’s “She’s Free” starts blasting from the loud speakers and the young girl sings along without missing a single word of the rather fast-paced summer hit.
Liron finishes to a round of applause from the nearly 200 campers and staff in the crowd and Samer is called up next.
Another song begins playing but instead of belting out the words, the 9-year-old drops to the floor and starts breakdancing as friends cheer below.
The scene — which included quite a few counselors trying to chase down children uninterested in watching — seemed rather standard for any summer camp.
That’s exactly what the staff at Camp Sunrise, which caters to kids suffering from cancer and their siblings, is aiming for.
“It’s not about taking kids with cancer to [Disney World], but rather showing them that they’re just like everyone else — doing the same activities, running around, going crazy and having a good time,” said 27-year-old counselor Lior Svirsky.
The campus where he works in the central town of Beit Yehoshua is just one of three camps across the country that have been serving cancer patients as well as their siblings since 2010.
Read More: Times of Israel