Dogwood Acres Campground has helped many charities during its 40
plus year history. Since our purchase of the campground in 2001, charity fundraisers have become annual events. Our seasonal campers chose
Ronald McDonald House Charities as the primary recipient of our efforts. We contacted the nearest house, in Hershey, PA, and spoke with Kathy Denton, its Executive Director. She explained how our donations would directly support the Hershey House. RMHC offers free housing, food, and support to families with children who are in the nearby hospital for treatment. Over the past 15 years, Dogwood Acres and our campers have fell in love with the RMHC. Through our fundraisers, auctions, carnivals, aluminum cans, and selling everything from chicken corn soup to chili, we have raised over
$80,000 for the charity.
In addition to the RMHC we have also raised money for Wounded Warriors, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, and numerous members of our immediate community. In 2013 our number one man was a Newville, PA resident, Dillon Strouse. Dillon is an inspiration to everyone who meets him. He is a determined young man pursuing his childhood dream of becoming a disc jockey. As CEO of Strouse Entertainment he let nothing stand in his way, not even cerebral palsy, a condition he has had since birth. Dillon’s body is confined to a wheelchair, but he would never call it a setback. The only disadvantage of the wheelchair was the wheelchair. In order to perform at his best, he needed to be able to get around better, especially living out in the country. Dillon was in need of an all–terrain wheelchair that was quite costly. There was no question that we wanted to help him get it. This past spring we had an all day benefit for Dillon and the day went spectacularly. We were able to raise over $10,000 for him, and the most rewarding part was seeing Dillon use his brand new wheelchair.
Community is very important to our campground because our seasonals and campers make us feel like we have our own small community nestled at the bottom of the mountain in Newville. We will continue to work hard to support causes that mean a lot to us, with hopes of making even the smallest difference a person’s life for the better.
We were very proud to receive this award on behalf of ourselves and seasonal campers, for all their efforts for raising money for 2012, and hope that you will join us this year and be a part of our efforts on behalf of the community to which we all belong.
Dogwood Acres Campground was also presented with the Volunteer of the Year award by The Volunteer Center and the United Way of the Capital Region. In a ceremony on April 13, 2010, we were recognized for our commitment to the community through outstanding volunteerism on behalf of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Pennsylvania. Download the nomination form, as submitted by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Pennsylvania, in its entirety.
If you give, lives can change!
