Anthony Ciammaichella has dedicated his summer to changing lives at Flying Horse Farms, a camp for children with serious illnesses, where he serves as an Alcoa Good and Green Fellow for the 2015 summer season through grant funding from the Alcoa Foundation.

Alcoa Fellows work as counselors and camp leaders while helping to establish environmental and sustainability-infused learning opportunities for the camp.

Ciammaichella is from Lewis Center and studies biomedical sciences at Marquette University. He joined Flying Horse Farms as a middle unit leader for the 2015 summer camp season. He is interacting with campers while helping adapt programs to meet medical, environmental and staffing variables for about 70 campers a week who live with illnesses like cancer, heart disease, craniofacial anomalies and more. Through this experience, he is developing practical skills while having the opportunity to provide care and support for children with serious illnesses.

In addition to regular camp duties, Ciammaichella is taking on a leadership role developing and implementing nature-related programming for the campers.

Flying Horse Farms provides camp experiences for children with serious illnesses. Located on 200 acres just outside Mount Gilead, Ohio, the camp hosts more than 800 children with serious illnesses and their families each year free of charge. The children who benefit from camp have illnesses including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, blood disorders, pulmonary disease, gastrointestinal disease, kidney disease and craniofacial anomalies.

Campers participate in activities like swimming, boating, fishing, archery, high ropes and more. Campers receive care at its on-site health center, staffed by medical professionals from children’s hospitals across Ohio.

Flying Horse Farms is the first camp in the Midwest to become a member of The SeriousFun Children’s Network (SFCN). Founded in 1988 by actor, philanthropist and Ohio native Paul Newman, the network is a community of independently managed and financed camps and programs creating opportunities for children with serious illnesses. Flying Horse Farms is an ACA-accredited camp with the American Camp Association.