Sister Spotlight: Mari Kate Freeman and Suzanne Gowan

Mari Kate and Suzanne, from left to right

Hi everyone! Our post for you today is written by Mari Kate Freeman on behalf of herself and Suzanne Gowan, both juniors, who spent part of their summers volunteering at Camp Debbie Lou. Our chapter recently started a philanthropy project with Camp Debbie Lou last semester, as it is a South Carolina local camp for children with childhood cancer and their families. Mari Kate and Suzanne are both absolutely perfect for a position like this with their fun-loving and generous personalities, not to mention great passion for this cause due to their experience with St. Jude through Tri Delta. Congratulations on such a wonderful opportunity girls and thank you for representing our chapter so well by volunteering for such a truly incredible organization. Read on to learn more!*

"Due to Tri Delta’s involvement with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a representative from Camp Debbie Lou, a summer camp for children with cancer, came to our chapter to ask us to be a part of a fundraising effort for the camp last spring. The representative briefly described Camp Debbie Lou, and then showed us a video to give us a better idea of where our time and money would be going. My best friend, Suzanne, and I were especially moved by this video, and we had been talking just the previous night about how we wanted to do something meaningful with our summer. That night after we heard the man speak at chapter about Camp Debbie Lou, we went to their website and decided we wanted to volunteer. For those of you who don't know about St. Jude, it is a pediatric treatment and research facility focused on children's catastrophic diseases founded by Danny Thomas in 1962.  All of their services are provided free to their young patients.

When June 19th rolled around, Suzanne and I packed our bags and headed to Latta, SC, a place that would very soon become special in our hearts. Upon volunteering for Camp Debbie Lou, we didn’t really have any idea about the size of the camp or what the volunteers would be like. We came to learn the camp was created in 2004 in loving memory of Deborah Lou Richardson Page who lost her battle with central nervous system lymphoma at age 53. Many of the volunteers for Camp Debbie Lou are part of the Richardson family who have dedicated a significant part of their lives to continuing the nurturing and inspirational spirit of Deborah Lou. What is unique about this camp in comparison to others for childhood cancer is that the entire family gets to spend a fun-filled weekend on the beautiful ranch.  In other cancer camps, only the diagnosed child gets to attend. Camp Debbie Lou serves as a getaway from the immense stress cancer places on an entire family when a member is battling a life threatening disease. Camp Debbie Lou’s motto is “fun, love, and laughter,” and these are exactly the three attributes Suzanne and I came to realize pervade every acre of this beautiful camp. 

Whereas Suzanne predominately worked at archery and water boats, I was assigned to go-carts and the craft room for the week. The kids made it a point to soak Suzanne with their water guns on the boats daily, while I helped children make scrapbooks that depicted their time spent at camp. Suzanne and I created an activity of our own where we would take all the campers out at night, divide into two teams, and see who could catch the most toads. The children darted in every direction, catching as many as thirty-five frogs and toads in one night! Throughout the week, Suzanne and I grew extremely close with the kids who inspired us with each of their unbelievably good attitudes, unique personalities, and incredibly moving stories. It was such a blessing to get to know these precious children and to help them escape from the doctor’s appointments and chemo treatments, even if it was just for a short while. 

This experience was presented to us through Tri Delta, and has created a more personal connection to our philanthropy with St. Jude and childhood cancer. Suzanne and I will now be especially motivated in our philanthropic pursuits since we will be doing so for the children we came to know and love at Camp Debbie Lou. We are both so grateful to have shared this experience together, and hope volunteering at Camp Debbie Lou will become a tradition among the Alpha Lambda chapter. We would never have had this opportunity without Tri Delta, and this experience is synonymous with what being a Tri Delta means- which is being a part of something bigger than yourself."

-Mari Kate Freeman

*you may notice some photos originally accompanying this post are missing. They have been removed due to liability issues with not exposing the campers. However the post is exactly the same! We apologize for the changes.