The Fifth Annual Camp Colleen
July, 2025
How Camp Colleen evolved: Colleen, while a volunteer with Red Shoe Society (RSS), proposed the idea of a day camp for families staying at Ronald McDonald Houses (RMHC-CNI) as a distraction from hospital visits and worry. Red Shoe has posthumously honored Colleen’s proposal by creating an annual Camp Colleen.
The first camp event was held August 5, 2021 at the Lurie Children’s Ronald McDonald House.
The second annual event was held August 4, 2022 and expanded to three additional RMH Illinois houses.
The third annual event included a new partnership with Project Linus and expanded to a total of five RMH houses, some on July 13, 2023 and at Lurie House on August 17, 2023.
The fourth annual event was held at the five RMH houses in the Chicago area on June 27, 2024.
This year, our fifth annual event on July 10, 2025 in Chicago, expanded to ARIZONA with a camp event on July 13 in Phoenix and July 20 in Tuscon!
Preparations begin months in advance and involve Red Shoe Society’s Family Enrichment Committee who coordinates with the Ronald McDonald Houses participating in Camp Colleen. Menus are planned, shopping lists made, volunteers signed up, camp-themed decorations created and toy-filled backpacks prepared. Special thank you to Ace Hardware and Red Shoe’s Kristen Chin Sitko for generously contributing to our Amazon wishlist of items to fill the backpacks and craft tables! Kristen holds a special place in out hearts as being responsible for our first ever Camp Colleen.
The camp dinner menu this year included roasted chicken legs with smoky grill rub, corn on the cob with cilantro lime butter, classic potato salad, watermelon salad and our famous campfire cupcakes. Colleen Cares (Gleason, Ginsberg, Letto and Rivard teams), Red Shoe Society, and Junior League of Chicago volunteers had purchased all ingredients to prepare the meals and brought their enthusiasm to the kitchen! They also decorated the dining area, dining tables and activity areas.
Everyone received a camp t-shirt and a backpack filled with goodies. The Lurie House rooftop was again the location for the Camp Colleen experience for families to enjoy camp crafts and foods. The music played while campers chose tattoos, decorated bird houses, made bead bracelets and handmade frames with their picture too! An ice cream bar added more sweetness to top it all.
Christine has been collecting pop top tabs this past year from family and friends. All were donated to the RMD House Charities - and the collecting begins again!!
We heard many campers say, “This was the best day ever!”
Red Shoe Society posted: “Camp Colleen is more than just a day of fun - it’s a celebration of community, resilience and the beautiful spirit of our families. A big thank you to everyone who made it possible!”
Colleen’s presence was felt throughout the day and many paused a moment at her memorial stone or enjoyed the nearby water ball fountain!
Here are some of the house volunteers whose work is greatly appreciated:
led by Christine Gleason
led by Michele Gansberg
led by Bridget Rivard
Notice the beautiful rainbow!
led by Amy Letto
Christine and Mike, Colleen’s parents, share, “We are so honored to be able to continue Colleen’s dream with this wonderful event the past five years. The thankfulness from families every year is overwhelmingly touching. This is what Colleen’s vision truly was. So many heartwarming moments and happy memories created.”
“This year is even more memorable with the expansion to Arizona - to demonstrate that love has no bounds.”
Arizona welcomed Camp Colleen in both Phoenix and Tucson. The Phoenix camp menu was the same as Chicago while the Tucson camp served a ‘brunch’ menu with hash brown breakfast bowls, croissants and fruit. Yummy!
Camp Colleen in Arizona also distributed t-shirts, water bottles and knapsacks filled with camp goodies. Activities included bracelet making, temporary tattoos, coloring butterflies and a pretend campfire corner.
Thank you to Becky Fox (Colleen’s cousin) for her creativity and beautiful signage designed for the Arizona events!
“On behalf of everyone at Ronald McDonald House Charities, I want to extend our heartfelt thanks for everything Colleen Cares Organization did for our guest families. From the delicious dinner to the tasty cupcakes and the awesome Camp Colleen giveaways, every detail made a big difference.” - Jen Donnelly, Manager, Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Central and Northern Arizona
Phoenix
led by Mary Titone (not pictured)
Tuscon
led by Vickie Jahaske
3 generations of Colleen’s family volunteered!
Every Camp Colleen includes the traditional campfire cupcakes - Yummy! Here are some of the creative ways they were decorated.
Colleen Cares Organization was honored to deliver a $20,000 donation to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Here is a video of Camp Colleen photos from Arizona. You can also view it on our YouTube channel. Remember to give it a thumbs up ‘like’ and subscribe!
More about Red Shoe Society and Ronald McDonald House Charities:
Red Shoe Society Chicago is focused to giving time, inspiration, creativity, and funds to help families with hospitalized children at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland & Northwest Indiana (RMHC-CHI) get better together. You can register to be a member of Red Shoe here if you feel called to be more involved.
The comfortable, caring spaces that RMHC-CNI create for families is beyond impressive. Guests are referred by social workers at the hospital. Once they stay at RMHC, they are there for the duration of their medical care. The average stay is nine days, but they come again for follow-up visits. Some families have been there for years. Sadly, they are often at 97% capacity with families during the most trying times in their lives. When a RMHC is full, they are offered a room at an area hotel. All of this work is 100% privately funded. McDonalds funds 30%, while the remainder comes from other corporations and individuals. Colleen Cares is honored to continue contributing to this mission and Colleen’s causes as a Red Shoe volunteer.
Camp Colleen is coordinated by Red Shoe Society Chicago and the Colleen Cares Organization. This year it was held at the Ronald McDonald Houses of Chicagoland, Phoenix and Tuscon. Shout out and special thank you to Red Shoe’s Natalie Diamond and RMHC-CNI’s (Chicagoland) Lauren Elias, RMHC-CNAZ’s (Phoenix) Jen Donnelly and RMHC’s- (Tuscon) Marisa Lunde for their dedication this year in leading all the coordination that makes Camp Colleen a reality.
