Lyndsay Fogarty
Four years ago, Ryan Jevec, legal document specialist at Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO) and associate producer at TNA Impact Wrestling, wanted to bring a special event to campers at Camp Boggy Creek in Eustis, Florida. Children with serious illnesses and life-threatening conditions are invited to attend Camp Boggy Creek, where they can experience the joys of camp while still getting the medical care that they need, free of charge.
Jevec wanted to bring together passionate volunteers from WVO’s legal services division and superstars from TNA Impact Wrestling during the camp’s annual Cancer Week. His idea has since become an annual event where WVO volunteers and wrestling superstars meet and entertain 150 children who are diagnosed with and being treated for cancer. “This event began as an idea in my head four years ago, which has since blossomed into an annual event looked forward to by all involved,” Jevec says.
With Jevec’s help, this event has become even bigger and better than the year before and continues to bring joy and entertainment to campers who participate. This year, TNA Impact Wrestling superstars led the campers in a morning aerobics session at breakfast, followed by a meet and greet. “It was exciting to have the TNA Impact Wrestlers visit the camp,” June Clark, president and CEO of Camp Boggy Creek, says. “It meant a lot to our campers and they loved the opportunity to get autographs and to see the wrestlers in action.”
Campers also received gifts from TNA Impact Wrestling including T-shirts, backpacks, sunglasses and coloring books, just to name a few. “Each year we are blessed to give these children a chance to forget about all the worries in the world and just be children – be themselves and enjoy themselves,” Jevec says. “Seeing the smiles on their faces and hearing their laughter and knowing they are genuinely happy is both humbling and touching.”
The highlight of the day was the exhibition show that the wrestlers participated in, which wowed the crowd. “Camp Boggy Creek is always an amazing experience, and I am privileged to be a part of it,” TNA Impact Wrestling superstar Ethan Carter III, also known as EC3, says. “From the morning exercises, to the opportunity to hang out with the campers, and to being able to actually perform at camp this year was a blast.”
“The camp, the counselors, and importantly, the kids, are a constant reminder of how honored I am to be able to do what I do,” adds Drew Galloway, another TNA Impact Wrestling superstar. “It’s easily the most rewarding experience of my life being able to perform and sign autographs for the kids at Camp Boggy Creek.”
For more information on Camp Boggy Creek, please visit www.campboggycreek.org. For more information on TNA Impact Wrestling, please visit www.IMPACTWRESTLING.COM.
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