Amanda is a proud mom to a beautiful little girl and adorable baby pirate boy. She can be found blogging at ohamanda.com, her daily blog, where she shares her life and her love of good books, and at Impress Your Kids, where she shares her ideas and activities for impressing God’s Word on her children’s hearts.

Last summer I was part of a team that performed puppet shows for a summer camp called Royal Family Kids Camp. We performed each day for about twenty foster kids from our community. The kids loved every bit of it and thought we were famous!

I had known about RFKC for several years and had written plays and scripts for previous years’ curriculum. I’d even seen the founder, Wayne Tesch, speak at a conference. But this was the first year I saw with my own eyes what Royal Family Kids Camp means to a foster kid.

On the last day, children had the opportunity to stand up and say what camp had meant to them. One little boy, about 10 years old, with a voice hoarse from play, stood up and said, “This week is the first time anyone has ever told me I’m good at something.”

I was dumbfounded. Never been told he was good at something? Never? My daughter is only 2 and I tell her she’s good at everything—going potty, putting away her toys and eating breakfast! I must say, “Good girl!” fifty times a day! I couldn’t believe what this little boy’s heart was missing out on. I couldn’t believe he could even identify something that I felt would be a minutia in my daughter’s life.

This is what Royal Family Kids Camp is all about. Their mission is to provide positive memories for abused and neglected children. Each year, about 3 million kids are reported as abused: severely neglected, sexually molested, emotionally damaged or physically abused. These children are placed in foster or group homes. And sadly, many of these homes still cannot provide the love and nurture these children need.

There are so many specifics about RFKC that I want to tell you about. So many details and care that have been put into this one week. But it’s too much for this one little post. You’d have to experience it to see the life change that can occur for these kids. However, here is a small list to help you see how this short week can make a lasting impression on these children:

1. Birthday Boxes ™ Most foster kids never experience a birthday party or even receive a birthday gift. So, at every RFKC, there is a surprise party for the kids—complete with a personalized birthday cake and a birthday box—filled with presents. This may literally be a once in a lifetime for these kids.

2. The Staff. They aren’t called “counselors”. Instead they are an “aunt” or an “uncle” to just two kids. What a great ratio! There is even a camp Grandpa and Grandma whose only job is to hug and love the kids. Imagine the joy of the kids who come back year after year to visit their Grandpa or Aunt!

3. Social Services. RFKC works with Social Services because although they are faith-based and the staff are devout Christians, they do not proselytize. Love and positive memories are their only goal.

At a RFKC in Alabama, the staff decided to have a princess party for the girl campers. They had the girls dressed up in frou-frou dresses, and they had each girl’s hair done, nails painted and jewelry in place. Then as they entered the room to their special princess dinner, the camp Grandpa dressed in a tux escorted each girl to their seat while an announcer called out their names. The girls could not have been more proud or more beautiful if they had been walking on the red carpet. It may be an every day occurrence in your house, but for these girls, this was the first time they’d felt like a princess in their lives.

So how can you help these children make positive memories? There are 155 camps worldwide: in 8 countries and 36 states! You can be a part of RFKC’s staff, help start a new camp, have your church or group donate Birthday Boxes ™ or donate money in any amount.

But today we ask for just one dollar. I’d like to think that your one dollar will help make one positive memory for an abused or neglected child. It may be the ONE positive memory they’ve had in their life.

One dollar=one memory!

(Statistics and other information was taken from Royal Family Kids Camp’s website. Please visit for even more details!)

To donate $1 to Royal Family Kids Camp and change the lives of foster children one child at a time, click here. Please use “One Dollar Give” in the dedication portion of the donation form. After you’ve donated, come back and vote in the poll so that we can count donations!

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(Yes, the poll offers you the choice between “Yes.” and “Yes.” because I didn’t think we really needed to count the “No” answers, and the poll required two choices! Hey, it’s not a perfect system, but it’ll work!)