Tommy Hilfiger Donation Warmed the Hearts of Children With Life-Threatening Illnesses

AmeriCares Foundation
Monday, 11 December 2000

Camp AmeriKids distributed the donation of winter jackets at their annual Christmas Party, December 9 at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine

Camp AmeriKids announced that they received a generous donation of Tommy Hilfiger winter jackets last week. The charitable donation was distributed last Saturday at the annual Camp AmeriKids Holiday Reunion Party. More than 300 Camp AmeriKids campers, and family members, volunteers, doctors and nurses gathered at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City to ring in the holidays. The children in attendance are all living with AIDS/HIV or other life-threatening illnesses.

Camp AmeriKids, an AmeriCares program, provides a free camping experience for children between the ages of 6-12 and a Leadership-in-Training Program for those between the ages of 13-16 who have spent previous summers at Camp. It is AmeriCares' hope that the time spent at Camp provides the children with a brief respite from the difficulties, medical and otherwise, that affect their daily lives. Good-byes on the last day of summer camp are always difficult, but the guarantee of a holiday reunion party, four months later, always lift the spirits of the campers, medical volunteers and staff.

"It is AmeriCares' firm conviction that children, despite their medical condition, should have the opportunity to experience holiday joys," says Caroline Baumis, Director of Camp AmeriKids. "We are grateful to companies like Tommy Hilfiger who have so generously donated these jackets. It is a tremendous gift, allowing Camp AmeriKids to bring not only holiday happiness but winter warmth to these young children."

Tommy Hilfiger has been an avid and significant supporter of Camp AmeriKids and AmeriCares' international disaster relief missions around the world. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation, Inc., has been created to better the lives of today's youth. They have funded educational youth non-profit organizations, as well as provided various organizations of this type with in-kind support.

For more information, or to contact AmeriCares Foundation, see their website at: www.americares.org