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08/26/2015 08:00 AMIn August 2012, Gabriella “Gabby” Castillo, 16, passed away at a place she loved, Camp Rising Sun, from cancer she’d met with “stubborn determination” most of her young life, recalls her mom, Kathleen.
“She died nine days before her seventeenth birthday,” says Kathleen. “When she went to camp that last year, we knew that she was sick, but we didn’t know how sick. In a way, it was a blessing. It was her favorite place to be.”
Beginning at the age of five, Gabby had spent one week every summer at Camp Rising Sun in Colebrook. Supported by contributions to non-profit Camp Rising Sun Foundation, the camp completely funds a week-long camping experience for youths aged 5 to 17 with cancer in their lives. The classic summer camp, complete with cabins, waterfront, and fields, is manned by professional medical and support personnel volunteering alongside counselors from all walks of life. Campers can be in treatment, in remission, or at any point on the cancer spectrum.
To honor Gabby’s memory and her favorite place, Kathleen has taken on two annual roles: volunteering as a camp counselor at Camp Rising Sun each August, and running the 5K portion of the Hartford Marathon each October to benefit Camp Rising Sun Foundation.
This week is especially poignant for Kathleen, who headed up to camp on Aug. 23 and stays on through Aug. 28. Kathleen arrived just two days after the anniversary of her daughter’s passing. She returns to her Northford home just two days before Gabby’s 20th birthday on Aug. 30.
Kathleen began running the Hartford Marathon’s 5K in 2013 and began counseling at Camp Rising Sun in 2014.
“Early in the grief process, I was trying to find a way I would be able to celebrate her birthday. I wanted it to be meaningful,” says Kathleen. “I decided the next year I would run a 5K in the Hartford Marathon for Camp Rising Sun. Now, every year, I do it for Gabby.”
Recently, Kathleen became one of 10 Hartford Marathon/Half Marathon/5K runners selected to join the 2015 Aiello Inspiration Team. Each team member’s dedication to run and raise money for worthwhile causes serves an inspiration for others, said Michael Jezouit, president of Aiello Home Services.
“We are proud to support a team of people who share the passion for helping others and are committed to causes and goals bigger than their own,” says Jezouit.
Before 2013, Kathleen had never run a 5K before. She says she’s very glad to have taken on the challenge.
“I go to the gym a lot, but I don’t run a lot, so I have to train each year,” she says, adding, “I’m not fast, but I finish, which is my goal.”
Kathleen runs to raise money for a camp that’s 100 percent funded by generous contributions allowing each camper to attend completely free of charge. This week, Kathleen’s helping to give 130 kids a classic summer camp experience at the camp’s beautiful facilities (aka YMCA Camp Jewell) in the Colebrook hills.
“I volunteered at Camp Rising Sun last year for the first time, and I feel privileged they let me,” says Kathleen. “You see kids form bonds immediately. They get to just be kids. It’s a wonderful experience.”
Kathleen is once again assisting a cabin of five- to nine-year-old boys.
“Every day is planned so there are activities all day—swimming, games, arts and crafts. These boys also just love to go to the playground and play gaga,” says Kathleen.
The old-school kids’ game (to get started, players chant, “ga, ga, ga”) needs only a rubber ball, a bit of open space, and some orbiting kids trying not to get tagged below the knees.
As a parent of a youngster who experienced Camp Rising Sun for many years, Kathleen can attest to what the remarkable annual camp program means to each family.
“From a parent’s perspective, every year you see pretty much the same people volunteering and coming back as campers, because once you’re there, you’re hooked. You become part of this big family of counselors and campers,” she says.
Kathleen and Gabby’s sister, Juliana, have made lasting friendships with several campers who shared Camp Rising Sun with Gabby.
“They make lifelong friends there. I’m still in contact with a lot of her friends from camp and one has kind of adopted my younger daughter,” says Kathleen. “They all stay in touch, especially now, with social media. They’re like each other’s cheerleaders.”
To help Kathleen Castillo raise money in honor of Gabby Castillo to benefit Camp Rising Sun, visit www.crowdrise.com/CampRisingSun2015/fundraiser/kathleencastillo1. For more information on the Hartford Marathon, visit www.hartfordmarathon.com. To learn about Camp Rising Sun, visit www.camprisingsun.org.