STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Tod Burton acted like a carnival barker, trying to get women in glamorous gowns and men in tuxes to throw plastic axes at a bullseye for a chance to win two nights at Sun Valley Resort and other prizes.

And Gretchen Hill and Tonya Adank hawked chocolate truffles for an opportunity to win a diamond necklace.

Their mission: To give children with cancer a chance “to be me.”

Darleigh, Hudson and Hayes Smith became acquainted with Camp Rainbow Gold when little sister Frankie Smiths was diagnosed with cancer.

Supporters of Camp Rainbow Gold filled the Limelight Room at the Sun Valley Inn Saturday for the annual Share Your Heart Ball, a night of glam and glitter.

Their aim was to raise money to ensure that every child in Idaho with cancer, their siblings and their family can attend Camp Rainbow Gold’s medical camp at Hidden Paradise where, as one camper put it, “I get to be me.”

“This is the 24th Share your Heart Ball,” Executive Director Elizabeth Linzberg told those dining on Snake River Farms New York Striploin and a Chocolate S’more Flourless Cake Topped with Toasted Marshmallow on top to give dinner a camp flair. “You have made Camp Rainbow Gold possible, and it has become so much more than we dreamed.”

Camp Rainbow Gold was founded in 1984 by Dr. Dave McClusky, a Twin Falls doctor who realized that children with cancer couldn’t attend regular summer camp with schoolmates because of their need for 24-hour access to medical care.

Supporters were quick to raise their paddles.

Camp moved from Cathedral Pines to a 172-acres refugee on a former golf course near Fairfield several years ago when the camp had an opportunity to buy the land there.

When Camp Rainbow Gold started, it typically lost a handful of campers every year. But with quicker diagnosis and better treatment, that number has dwindled. This year it lost one camper: 10-year-old Jett who snuck a snake home to show his parents his favorite part of the five-day camp.

Darleigh Smith and her sons Hudson and Hayes Smith became acquainted with Camp Rainbow Gold when their sister Frankie, now a 4-year-old nicknamed “Cranky Frankie,” was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer known as a Wilms tumor.

“My daughter is finishing up treatment and we attended family camp. The kids absolutely loved it—the bike trails, the archery…” Darleigh said. “It was fun to get away, to be able to enjoy time as a family.”

Danielle Edelman and Buck Lomas availed themselves of a photo op with Simeon, a Belgian Malnois.

On Saturday the Smiths learned that they will be journeying 2,400 miles from camp as the family was awarded a VIP Experience at a Philadelphia Eagles football game with on-field access, a player meet and greet, prime seats, signed Eagles swag, a three-night hotel stay  and roundtrip flight from Boise to Philadelphia.

It all started with a TikTok video that Mom, who grew up in Philadelphia, posted of her daughter watching a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game from her hospital bed. It caught the attention of the Phillies, who sent her a care package filled with team merchandise.

On Saturday night the mascot of the Philadelphia Eagles made its way on stage to present the family with their prize.

“She watches Philadelphia every chance she gets,” Darleigh said.

Camp counselors lead the audience in the camp’s “Banana Split” song as they sing “Peel bananas. Peel, peel bananas…”

Lizberg described a young boy who had become isolated and had to relearn how to walk and talk after his treatment. But at camp the little boy who uses a wheelchair was in the thick of the fun, helping to conducting a raid on another cabin.

“He was having fun being a kid,” Lizberg said. “When he got home, he had a renewed sense of determination, he worked harder. No one was saying, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ No one was thinking, ‘You’re different.’ Children realize they’re good enough as they are because of the gift of camp. They fight harder.

“Tonight is about bringing kids camp,” she added. “Reflect on your childhood when life was carefree. Childhood should be about experiencing—not cancer.”

Share Your Heart Ball attendees noshed on Smoked Gouda and Bacon Mac and Cheese bites over a toast dubbed Love Potion No. 9 made of 44 Degree North Idaho Potato Vodka and Raspberry Liqueur as they perused an array of silent auction items. They included premium whiskeys from the Slo Sip Society, passes to Boise’s Treefort Festival, packages from Galena Lodge, Ketchum Limelight Hotel and a handcrafted 19th century sailboat model donated by Judy Jellinik.

Live auction lots included a Beach Boys production with John Stamos at the Hollywood Bowl, a Sun Valley Resort package that included a season pass and $500 gift card to Panache that went for $16,000 and a seven-night stay for four in a luxurious home in Tuscany that also went for $16,000.

There was even an opportunity to bid on a custom tuxedo or suit made by Boise’s H.M. Cole Custom Clothing.

The camp has finished building accessible cabins, a Med Shack and accessible children’s playground with a lift that Bellevue’s Swiftsure Ranch can use to get children on horses. It hopes to break ground this spring on a lodge that will provide more dining capacity so the camp can serve as many as 200 youngsters.

Western States Cat is also building a maintenance shed. And while there it will build a dirt track and hill for youngsters to operate remote control trucks, excavators and backhoes, said Lonni Leavitt-Barker, the camp’s capitol campaign director.

The lodge and maintenance building will cost about $5 million, of which Camp Rainbow Gold has raised $3 million. But the camp just got a $1 million match so, once that’s matched, they will have it all paid for, said Leavitt-Barker.

One young man who was diagnosed with cancer 14 years ago and is now cancer free told how it was so helpful to spend time at camp with others who knew what he was going through.

“By the end it was like a small family. It taught me there will always be people there for you,” he said.

Want to know more? Visit https://camprainbowgold.org/.

DID YOU KNOW?

When Camp Rainbow Gold is not in session it is used by several other Idaho organizations in need of a medical camp.

They include the Epilepsy Foundation; Next, for families whose children have special needs; an organization for chidren who have lost limbs or have limb differences; an Adventure in Communicating Camp for children who use alternative communication devices; Camp River Run for children with complex medical needs and Sunrise Retreats, which serves women navigating life after the loss of a spouse.