*The Hole in the Wall Gang Fund Inc

Residential coed summer camp

Ashford, Connecticut

Established in 1987

The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, founded by Paul Newman in 1988, is a nonprofit residential summer camp, an ingeniously designed and dazzlingly equipped Wild West hideout in northeastern Connecticut, where children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses do not have to sit on the sidelines. More than 1,000 children between the ages of seven and fifteen from across the country and abroad attend each year, free of charge.

In each ...read moreof the nine camp sessions, between early morning polar bear swims and evening campfires, approximately 120 children become naturalists and fishermen, athletes and actors, equestrians and hot air balloonists, potters and painters, poets and photographers, swimmers and singers, fly tiers and fly fishermen, outdoor campers and canoe paddlers, clowns and musicians, woodworkers and kite flyers. At stage night, awards night, carnival day, the camp dance, and through "cabin chats," and camp songs and celebrations at every meal, campers inspire each other.