Who We Serve » Okizu - Supporting Families with Childhood Cancer

For volunteer opportunities, click here.

Established in 1982, Okizu is a nonprofit organization that operates Camp Okizu, a summer camp that offers an ideal setting for children with cancer to explore and enjoy a normal life experience. The mission of Okizu is to provide peer support, respite, mentoring, and recreational programs to meet the needs of all members of families affected by childhood cancer.

Camp Okizu is situated on 500 acres near Oroville, CA—a fun, inspiring, safe and supportive environment where children and families struggling with pediatric cancer can regain their strength and hope, and where kids can just be kids. It is a serene, tranquil site featuring rolling hills and four lakes. The camp consists of four camper villages with 32 cabins and four shower/bath buildings, a 16,500-square-foot main lodge, a state-of-the-art infirmary for children currently undergoing treatment, an amphitheater, hiking trails, an archery range, a ropes course, a basketball court and playing fields.   

Camp Okizu is staffed by a team of dedicated, compassionate and energetic volunteers who work as counselors and medical staff. This includes dozens of volunteer pediatric oncologists, nurses, social workers, and recreational therapists who help ensure that even children who are currently in treatment are able to attend Camp Okizu. Many of our camp volunteers are themselves former Okizu campers who have survived cancer or have lost loved ones to childhood cancer. 

Okizu is unique in the services it provides—operating the only oncology camp of its kind in northern California and one of only a handful in the entire country of week-long camps specifically for siblings of children with cancer. Each year, we operate three weeks of Oncology Camp, four weeks of SIBS (Special and Important Brothers and Sisters) Camp, eight Family Camp weekends (including two Bereavement Camp weekends), and four Teens & Twenties weekend retreats for older teens and young adults dealing with cancer.

A week at Camp Okizu gives kids the opportunity to make friends, play games, sing songs, learn new activities, and simply have fun. It is a week away from televisions and computers, where they can enjoy fresh air and sunshine. They swim, boat and fish in Camp Okizu’s lakes; make and exchange friendship bracelets; challenge themselves by participating in the ropes course; learn to use a bow and arrow at the archery course; sing songs by campfire and sleep out under the stars. They participate in teambuilding exercises, and make friends that last a lifetime.

We do not charge families any fees to attend or send their children to Camp Okizu. It is our belief that these families have enough to cope with—both emotionally and financially—without worrying about finding the money for camp. All program costs are covered by individual donations, corporate and foundation grants, and proceeds from fundraising events. Okizu employs a full-time events coordinator and part-time grant writer to ensure that potential funding sources are identified and approached on a continuing basis.

Okizu.org