Roundup River Ranch was only an idea in 2006.

Now, after millions of dollars and years of effort by volunteers and staff members, the nonprofit facility for sick children will become reality.

The ranch is located on 85 acres near Dotsero and is the eighth member of Paul Newman Association Camps located in the U.S. The camps were formerly known as Hole in the Wall Camps.

On June 11, Dine First — a fund-raising event — will mark the opening of the camp as the first meal served in the camp's mess hall, Trent's Cookhouse. The camp staff will start work the following week.

Dine First will feature dinner, tours, a campfire sing-along and live music by locals Don Watson and Beth Swearingen. Tickets start at $250 and may be purchased by contacting the camp's development officer, Betsy Seeger, at Betsy@RoundupRiverRanch.org or 748-9983 ext. 7.

“The tickets are expensive because we are trying to raise money, but there will be a donor/volunteer appreciation event in August that will be free and people can bring their families,” said Ruth Johnson, CEO of Roundup River Ranch.

RRR's mission is to provide a “normal camp experience” for children suffering from severe health problems and diseases such as cancer. This summer, the camp will host a total of 160 children during four one-week sessions. In some cases, children's families join them at camp. But this summer will be for children only, Johnson said.

“That's because we have the medical support and to be away from home is a very unusual opportunity for many of these kids,” Johnson said. “For many, this will be their first time away from home.”

Johnson added that the camp aims to provide a sense of empowerment.

Volunteer At-camp volunteers must be at least 19 years old. The camp is currently looking for two more nursing volunteers for the Aug. 4-11 session. More male volunteers are wanted for the summer as well. Website: www.RoundupRiverRanch.org/get-involved/volunteer Phone: (970) 524-2267 Email: Tiana@RoundupRiverRanch.org

The experience

The cornerstone of Paul Newman Association Camps is to provide life-changing experiences free of charge for children suffering from life-threatening illnesses, Seeger said.

While at camp, a group of children ages 7 to 17 is exposed to a variety of activities including archery, horseback riding, high ropes courses, art and music. After they've had a chance to try everything, each child has the option to go back to any of the activities that appealed to him or her the most.

“A camper might choose to spend most of her time with the horses and that's something else we give these kids that they normally don't have — the power of choice,” said Ainslie Peters, RRR camp director.

Activities will also differ for each camp session depending on the group of campers. RRR staff members refer to such planning as “intentional programming.”

“At all the Association Camps, everything is adapted to be all-inclusive,” Peters said. “If one camper is physically unable to do an activity, that activity won't be on the menu. The choice is still theirs but there won't be anything they can't do.”

Peters said another aim of the camp experience is to highlight every child's successes and help him or her realize how much he or she is accomplishing.

“For one person it might be to climb onto a horse,” Peters said. “Again, it has to do with empowerment and giving them the sense that they can achieve goals.”

Peters said an outsider would see RRR as any other summer camp, with young people laughing and learning.

“It's the underside (the medical support) that we take care of,” she said.

Peters started working at Paul Newman Association Camps 10 years ago, while she was in the process of going through college and grad school for art and philosophy. She enjoyed studying abroad, but after working at a camp in Ireland for two years, she was hooked. She said she will work at Roundup River Ranch well into the foreseeable future.

“Everybody that comes here — the staff, volunteers and children — grows and learns from each other,” she said. “I think anyone who grew up going to camp will relate to how that shaped them.”

‘The underside'

Dr. Marita Bledsoe is the medical director for RRR. Her role at the ranch is to make sure the campers have access to any medical needs but to also help them forget they are sick.

“It's arranged so that the medical staff is kind of invisible,” she said. “The medical folks really want to see the kids have fun, that's the biggest thing.”

The volunteer medical team at Roundup River Ranch this summer includes 18 nurses, 15 physicians and one respiratory therapist in addition to three staff members.

The doctors might split their shifts among each other during the week to accommodate schedules with outside patients. The nurses, on the other hand, must commit to spending the entire week at camp because they stay in the cabins with the children.

The nurses bring the campers their medicine so that they don't have to go to the camp's medical center. They also get to know each child and his or her needs, and are likely to recognize any changes in a camper's health.

“The kids are monitored so closely, they don't just collapse and they are probably safer here than they are in a lot of other places,” Bledsoe said.

The medical support at Roundup River Ranch extends far beyond the people working at the camp as well. RRR also collaborates intensely with the children's doctors, families, boards and advisory committees.

On the Road

Bledsoe started her work with Roundup River Ranch as a member of its On the Road program.

Since 2007, RRR participated in an On the Road program in which children from the Rocky Mountain region were transported to other Association Camps.

Bledsoe accompanied a group of campers to Florida and said it all went smoothly.

“Even though our campers have severe diagnoses, they usually just get the normal camp things like bumps, scrapes and colds — normal kid things,” Bledsoe said. She added that sun burns aren't one of the problems because they keep the kids slathered in sunscreen.

Still, RRR is a new camp and the medical conditions of the children pose a constant possibility that something can go awry.

“I think we're all very excited and also a little apprehensive to make sure we have a good start,” Bledsoe said.

Once Roundup River Ranch has been fully operational for a few years, it will become a destination for other On the Road programs.

Volunteers

A variety of people help RRR by volunteering their time. At-camp volunteers need to be at least 19 years old.

The camp is currently looking for two more nursing volunteers for the Aug. 4-11 session. More male volunteers are wanted for the summer as well.

Twenty-five volunteers are needed for each camp session. All volunteers go through a full day of training. However, the volunteers always have the support of the RRR staff and are never left totally alone with the kids, Peters said.

To find out more about how you can help, contact RRR's volunteer coordinator, Tiana Carlson. Carlson can be reached by email at tiana@roundupriverranch.org or by calling 524-2267. More information can also be found at www.RoundupRiverRanch.org/get-involved/volunteer.

Recruiting

Roundup River Ranch will serve an 11-state area but priority is given to children from the Rocky Mountain region. Finding children who qualify for the camp can be a tricky matter, though.

“It is extremely challenging to find the families of these children because of confidentiality,” Johnson said.

That's why the camp has a recruiter who is in charge of finding potential campers and their families.

“Anyone who fits within our disease guidelines is able to apply, assuming the child has approval from his or her medical team,” Seeger said.

Costs

The average cost for a child to spend a week at camp is about $2,500. It costs about $2.1 million to operate the camp annually. That's why RRR is busy raising funds and searching for volunteers.

In 2008, a year before any ground was broken for RRR's construction, the campaign goal was to raise $20 million. That has since been achieved but more donations are needed.

“Our goal is to forward-fund and become self-sustaining,” Seeger said. “It's up to Roundup River Ranch to provide most of our own funding.”

While things at the ranch are off to a good start, realizing that goal is going to take some effort, Johnson noted.

“That's why we're still looking for donors,” she said.

After all, it costs a lot of money to give these children and their families an experience that is normally out of reach for them.

“These kids are too sick to do anything without a lot of medical planning,” Johnson said. “The creation of Roundup River Ranch included an incredible team of donors, committee members and others to make it a reality.”