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The Painted Turtle
By Janine Sharell
(CNN) -- They're Hollywood heavyweights: Paul Newman, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Annette Bening. They took to one stage, one night, for one reason... to raise money for a new Paul Newman camp for chronically and terminally ill children. Among them was Amanda, an 11-year-old cancer survivor who lost her leg and a rib to the disease. She spoke to the stars and a sold-out crowd about the importance of such a camp. The all-star cast performed "The World of Nick Adams" based on stories written by Ernest Hemingway. Lou Adler, who produced the show, visited Newman's Connecticut camp and says, "You've got to be dead not to have a passion for it once you've experienced that." Organizers raised more than $2 million at the celebrity-packed event, but the real story takes place far from the lights of the theater, about 60 miles outside of Hollywood in what used to be a run-down RV park.
Bulldozers are now making way for the Painted Turtle, the only camp of its kind on the West coast. The area spans 179 acres with a 23-acre lake heavily populated with bass. At the helm is Adler's wife, Page Hannah-Adler. She explains the thinking behind the name, The Painted Turtle: "It's an animal that has a tough exterior and a soft interior, very much like these kids that we're serving." About 1,000 kids will attend in the summer, and 2,000 more during the rest of the year. One of Paul Newman's mandates is that camp is free, regardless of a family's financial situation. Adler was hooked after volunteering at Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang camp in Connecticut. After locating the land in Lake Hughes, California, and assembling a board, Adler had to reel in Newman.
It wasn't a fancy business dinner or meeting that convinced him to sign on. Hannah-Adler drove him to the site and the two went fishing. She landed a bass and got the green light. At The Painted Turtle, kids will be able to fish, ride horses, swim, perform activities like any other camp, only this one has a twist. "It really was important for us that they could all enter the pool the same way," said Adler, "that they didn't feel like 'oh, well I'm in a wheelchair and now I'm noticing it because I can't go in the pool the same way or I can't enter that building the same way.' So there's been a lot of attention paid to the details that makes all these kids on the level playing ground." The point is to let kids forget about their medical conditions, if only for a week. That's why the medical center will be called the Well Shell. It's a far cry from looking like a hospital or doctor's office.
Doctors will be sporting shorts and sandals. Edward R.B. McCabe, M.D. will be on-site. He looks forward to seeing patients in a new setting, having fun, rather than dreading another medical visit. He's found the camp atmosphere "can have a direct physical benefit for their underlying illness." Hannah-Adler's goal is to create an environment where children with medical issues are able to feel normal. The Painted Turtle will be the sixth Hole in the Wall Gang camp. It's been four years in the making, and though it sounds ambitious, they plan to welcome their first campers in the fall of 2003. Though the fund-raiser did add a couple of million dollars to the coffers, contributions are welcome -- be it monetary or quilts for campers' bunks, or a teddy bear for kids to take home with them.
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