Camp FWD

Why I Built Camp FWD

I was 8 years old when I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I didn't know a single other person who had it. Not one. In a life that already felt uncertain — I was a foster kid, moving through systems that weren't built for me — diabetes felt like one more thing that set me apart. One more reason to feel angry. One more reason to feel alone.

And I was angry. For a long time.

Then someone sponsored me to go to diabetes camp.

I don't have the words for what that week did to me. For the first time in my life, I was in a room full of kids who understood — not because someone explained it to them, but because they lived it too. I found my people. I found my best friends. I found myself.

I also met a boy at camp when I was 13. I married him.

One person believed it was worth investing in me. One sponsored camp spot changed the entire trajectory of my life — my identity, my friendships, my family, my purpose.

That is why I founded the Diabetes Network of Arizona. And that is why we built Camp FWD.

Because right now, there is a child in Arizona who is newly diagnosed, angry, and completely alone — just like I was. They don't know yet that their people exist. They don't know that their best friends are out there. They don't know what one week at camp can do.

Your donation on Arizona Gives Day gives them the chance to find out.

The real cost to send one child to Camp FWD is $1,400. Most families can't afford that. But you can change that — and you can change a life in the process. Not just for a week. Forever.

I am living proof.

Give today. Send a child forward.

— Tara Krajnak

Founder & Executive Director, Diabetes Network of Arizona

Living with Type 1 diabetes for 30+ years