• Special Love
    A Community of Support for children with cancer and their families
  • Race Across America – Team One Life
  • June 28
    Special Love Golf Tournament 2024
  • April 20
    Under 7 Family Day 2024
  • Kay/Moore Scholarship Applications 2024
  • Hope Scholarship 2024
  • September 20 6:00pm - September 20 11:00pm
    Special Love’s Annual Gala 2024
  • July 21 - July 27
    BRASS Camp 2024
  • August 4 - August 10
    Camp Fantastic 2024

Programs for

About Us

“The hospitals saved my son’s life, but Special Love saved his soul.”



Special Love provides a strong, nurturing environment for children with cancer and their families through its free camps and getaway weekends, emergency financial assistance, and educational scholarships for young adults who have beaten cancer and now want to move on with their lives.

Camp Fantastic, our cornerstone program for 7-17 year-old cancer patients, is considered a protocol within the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and has made Special Love a recognized National Institutes of Health (NIH) charity.

Since our inception in 1983, children have come to Special Love from the Washington metropolitan area and from all across the country thanks to our partnership with the NIH and other area hospitals.

Each year, Special Love serves hundreds of children, teens, and young adults ages birth to 30 years old and their families.

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Patients

Camps/Programs

Every year, Special Love welcomes hundreds of pediatric cancer patients, ages 7 to 17, to our camps and adventure programs. Each one provides time away from the hospital and its strict schedules, as well as the pain and isolation that come with cancer treatment. Programs are designed to provide a place to laugh, play, share with new and old friends, and even take a few healthy risks. A place where they can just be kids.

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Siblings

Camps/Programs

BRASS is designed specifically for the siblings of pediatric cancer patients, as well as bereaved siblings. BRASS offers them a place for open, honest dialog with other campers and counselors to ensure they too are enveloped in a strong support system where they can put the family trauma of cancer away to spend time being a kid, In an environment where the focus is completely on them. The importance BRASS plays in the siblings’ lives is significant; so much so that most camp counselors, as well as counselors-in-training, are former BRASS campers themselves.

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Family

Camps/Programs

Quality family time is one of the hardest things for a family to find when their child has cancer. They need that time to reconnect as a family, share some fun and laughter, and strengthen their bond during a stressful time. Special Love’s family programs are designed to do just that, by hosting opportunities throughout the year.

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Next Program

Under 7 Family Day 2024

  • April 20
  • Frying Pan Park

Join us for this fun-filled day of outside fun and arts and crafts on the farm! And parents, join us for a separate time JUST FOR YOU! Open to patients and survivors under 7 and their families!  More information to come!

Upcoming Programs

May 11 2024

Parents Day

  • May 11 12:00pm - May 11 4:00pm
  • Barrel Oaks Winery

Parents, a day just for you – to sip, snack, and socialize! Get away for the day at Barrel Oak Winery. Register for this day just for you here!


May 18 2024

Summer Family Day

  • May 18
  • Smokey Glen Farm

Summer Family Day is a fun-filled gathering for all present (and future) Special Love families.  We’ll have everything from face painters, balloon artists, zip-lining, crafts, and outdoor games.. Food and friendship are of course on the menu. It’s a can’t-miss time for families who’ve together weathered one of the most grueling events a family can […]


Jun 28 2024

Special Love Golf Tournament 2024

  • June 28
  • Rock Harbor Golf Course

Join us on June 28, 2024 for a spectacular golf outing at Rock Harbor Golf Club in Winchester, VA. You have a choice of an 8 am or 1:30 pm tee time (or both!) with a separate awards reception for each. We promise a great fun-filled day with friends while supporting children with cancer. Your […]


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