Since the first Red Carpet Day, we have graduated over 120 young adults from our Leadership Development Program.  These alumni have gone on to become teachers, doctors, missionaries and more – and they’ve all continued to serve others in their own ways.  Watch this video and read their testimonials to learn more!

“Heart of Passion, or ‘Red Carpet Day’ as the program was called when I first had the honor of being a volunteer, was unquestionably the highlight of numerous summers throughout high school and college. Each year my initial self centered excitement of being able to participate alongside Heart of Passion guests in activities such as a day at Six Flags, a Braves game, or private concert quickly faded in the face of children my age that had recently endured or were enduring the deepest suffering most adults could only imagine. The beauty of Heart of Passion is that the faces I saw each year were not those one would expect from children battling cancer, but faces of joy and hope. I don’t mean to imply that a week of fun and entertainment can fully sustain a child through such a difficult time, but Heart of Passion was incredibly able to instill in its guests the foundation that cancer does not and cannot rule over them. Cancer cannot take away their joy or hope. Seeing this truth play out before me each summer deeply impacted my worldview and drove me to take a hard honest look at the things in life that I pull my joy from and put my hope in. I am forever grateful to Heart of Passion for revealing to me this and many other enduring truths.”

~ L. Tyler Grant, 3 year RCD leader, Commercial Real Estate Analyst

“In my sophomore year of college, I was completely lost in what direction to take my life in. I’d talked with my family and friends and still didn’t know where to go next. In complete distress I had a conversation with my mother who told me to choose something I was passionate about, something that always made me happy, and something that didn’t feel like work. Without hesitation, I told her Red Carpet Day. For four years I had participated in the summer retreat-style camp, Red Carpet Day. Spending time with the children that came every year would be my favorite part of summer break. As a counselor, RCD was tough yet more fulfilling than anything I’d do in the other 51 weeks of my year. And, it most certainly didn’t feel like work. Solely because of Red Carpet Day, I decided to be a teacher.

Red Carpet Day gave me so much more than just a career decision. The children at Red Carpet Day completely changed my outlook on life. Most of the participants were considerably younger than I, yet the way they valued life was far beyond my years. My friend, DeAngela Mathis, had a progressive brain tumor that wouldn’t allow her to ride most of the roller coasters at Six Flags, yet she was excited and thankful to be there alongside her camp family. At least one of our group’s counselors would stay with DeAngela while the rest of our hospital would enjoy a thrilling ride on a towering coaster. Not once did DeAngela complain or even lose the infectious smile she always had on her face. In her final months before leaving us, two of the RCD counselors and I travelled to Augusta to visit with DeAngela. Her brain tumor had grown so large that she had a difficult time speaking and had lost all of her sight. We told DeAngela she had her pick of what we’d spend the day doing, so the four of us went to see Tupac: Resurrection at the movie theater. Three of us were able to watch the movie while DeAngela could only listen. Not once did DeAngela complain. DeAngela even joyfully sang along with Tupac. A few months later, DeAngela passed, but the impact this young girl made on my life will be with me forever. From DeAngela and Red Carpet Day, I learned to take on everyday with an attitude as the RCDers did.

Although I eventually became too ‘old’ to be a RCD counselor, I couldn’t get enough of camp so I now spend my free time throughout the year involved in two Camp Twin Lake camps called Camp Twitch and Shout and Camp Horizon. Without Red Carpet Day, I never would have realized the value of helping others enjoy their lives. At Red Carpet Day I learned how to completely remove myself from my daily life in order to focus 100% on someone else, which is a necessity in my job as well as the camps. Red Carpet Day single handedly made me a better person, and for that, I’m forever grateful.”

~Jae Lynch, 4 year RCD leader, and youth advisory council member, 4th grade teacher and dedicated volunteer

“Volunteering at Red Carpet Day has changed my life in more ways than I would have ever imagined. I have completely fallen in love with the organization and all of the people involved. I think about our event all year long, anticipating those 4 special days spent with my friends, both new and old. I want this experience to always be a part of my life. I love the work associated with being the Event Director because of the amazing people that I have met and the need that our event meets. My friends who have cancer are my heroes, for they are definitely some of the best people that I have ever met. I admire their bravery and love of life. I am striving to become involved with the Oncology field as a vocation, even if I am only able to give back a fraction of what they have given to me.”

~Megan Self, 3 year RCD leader, event director, MS Kinesiology Candidate 2010

“Red Carpet Day is an inspirational adventure not just for the camp participants, but for the volunteers as well. For the sheltered seventeen year old girl that I was before the first RCD in 2002, this camp was an awakening. RCD was my first opportunity to interact with the medically unwell, and before the end of the camp, I knew that it would not be my last. I returned to volunteer at the following RCD in 2003 and again in 2005. The campers continued to inspire me with their stories and infect me with their implausibly positive attitudes and remarkable resilience. Like many of the teens who volunteer at this camp, RCD revealed the passion within me for bettering the lives of those who are less fortunate. Furthermore, for me personally, RCD was the guiding force that led me to medical school. Today I am well on my way to gaining the essential knowledge to complement the compassion that I discovered through RCD.”

~Jenna Thomason, 4 year RCD leader and youth advisory council member, Emory University MD/MPH Candidate 2012