Burn Bulletin

Champ Camp Store: For a limited time only, you can purchase AARBF’s Champ Camp merch. Visit our online store at http://www.archerandhound.com/champcamp to purchase your items today.

Want to get a $15 discount? Join the Champy-On Fundraiser before the store closes on May 16th. Create a team and gain 5 unique donors (one can be you!) to receive your exclusive Discount Code!

Calling All Cooks: The annual Champ Camp Chili Cook-Off will be held on Wednesday, June 11th, during Champ Camp in Wonder Valley. If you’d like to join the fun, please register using the link below. Our Camper will judge the recipes, so please plan your recipe accordingly.

To register, please visit: https://www.aarbf.org/champ-camp-chili-cook-off/

For more information, contact Katrina Arthur at karthur@aarbf.org. 

Registration Closing Soon: Champ Camp will be held at the Wonder Valley Resort in Sanger on June 7th – 14th. Camp is open to burn survivor children, ages 5-17. It is a great place for kids to be kids, making lasting friendships.

Register your child today at http://app.campdoc.com/register/aarbf.

For questions, please contact Erika “Kika” Mendoza at emendoza@aarbf.org.

Support Our Arts & Crafts: Each year, our program staff creates a wish list of items needed for arts and crafts, as wells as water games and activities. To purchase an item from our Amazon wish list, please visit https://a.co/3El8l9z.

AARBF is grateful to the young men of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Fresno State for the success of their Philanthropy Week.  

Brothers of the Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) Fraternity at Fresno State brought back their Philanthropy Week in April of 2025 to benefit the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation. The week-long contest, ending with a Pickleball Tournament, was part of the philanthropic mission of the PIKE brothers to support and raise awareness for communities such as those served by AARBF. The PIKE fraternity donated $9,005 to AARBF. The Delta Zeta Sorority was recognized as the Overall Winners and the Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority as the winners of the Pickleball Tournament.

AARBF is proud to partner with the next generation of philanthropists and leaders in the Central Valley. 

On April 30, 2025, after 25 years of service to the citizens of Menlo Park, California, Fire Marshal Jon Johnston celebrated with colleagues, friends, and family his retirement from the Menlo Park Fire District.  Jon has helped the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation as a representative at golf tournaments and also in helping the Board of Directors.  During his time with Menlo Park, Jon organized and directed the Menlo Park Pancake Breakfast, benefiting the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.  Over the 25 years, the pancake breakfast has raised over $250,000 to help fund the important programs the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation provides.  The breakfast also includes a community outreach and fire prevention education opportunities.  When Jon spoke, he was typical Jon, when he reminded everyone that any success that he has accomplished has always been attributable to the team that surrounded him.

Jon will be moving to the East Coast and we wish him and his family well as they look forward to the next chapter in their lives.  Jon still looks forward to staying connected to the AARBF.  We want thank the Menlo Park Fire District for hiring Jon and supporting the AARBF and to wish Jon a hearty congratulations on a job well done professionally and for contributing and being such a meaningful part of the AARBF family. 

The Friends of AARBF is a quasi Alumni Association for past and present volunteers, camp counselors, staff, prevention partners, fundraising partners, survivors and their families, everyone who has been a super stakeholder for AARBF along the way these past 54 years.

We plan on this launching as a social group to get reconnected as much as anything else at the start, and we hope to grow it into something grander, maybe helping in fundraising to keep the foundation’s work going strong, maybe even become our own auxiliary 501(c)3 non-profit in the future!  While there will be social, volunteer, and donor opportunities, there is no commitment until something strikes your fancy and you feel like participating!

If you have already joined, thank you. Please help us reach more people by sharing this message with your AARBF friends.

If you are interested in joining us, please provide your contact information here: https://forms.gle/AMQrDVo4NcSmZU6i8

For questions about the association, please reach out to Mike “Otter” at 650-515-6142 or otter.mouser@pacbell.net.

Back by popular demand, please join us for another All Champ Camp Counselor Reunion.

Date:  Saturday August 16, 2025
Time:   2pm-8pm
Location:  Mike “Colonel” Sanders House at 13595 Sycamore Dr. Morgan Hill CA 95037//408-892-0902         
Cost:  $20 per person, spouses and kids are invited – BY 8/5 to Beanie via VENMO@Sandra-Smith-72 or Zelle 650-438-9173
Food: Hamburgers and hot dogs, water and some soft drinks will be provided.

If you plan on attending, please bring some other kinds of food to share with the group.  (Your choice- appetizer, casserole, salad, dessert, or anything else you might want to share with the group).

Theme: “40 Years!” (Sticking with this year’s camp theme and another reason to celebrate each & every one of you!)

Plan on there being group skits, songs, and several other surprises throughout the event. Please wear an old Champ Camp shirt.

There are several hotels in the area if you want to stay in town.

(Colonel has about 8 acres of flat ground if you wish to bring a trailer, motorhome or whatever you want to sleep in. He does not have power, water or dumping facilities.)

 We are in need of several volunteers for this event.  If you would like to help, let us know.

  *  Set Up tables and chairs (Saturday noon)

  *  1-2 Volunteers to BBQ

  *  Sign in with name tags

  *  Clean up

  *  Donations of plates, forks, napkins, ice, condiments

  *   Activity Games Coordinator

RSVP BY August 5th along with your current contact phone and email info.

Questions?  Contact Colonel 408-892-0902, 2c60ms@gmail.com or Beanie 650-438-9173, SandraEZsmith@gmail.com

If you have contact with any past counselors, please feel free to pass this information to us.

Time is running out to apply for the Woody and Louise Reed Bridge to Life Scholarship. This incredible program, made possible by the Reed family, awards scholarships to burn survivors or their immediate family members seeking post-secondary education after high school. This can be a community college, college, university, or trade school, and is open to all ages, going directly into or returning to education.

Apply today at: https://forms.gle/pjkdLejUMfefvXsbA

For questions, please contact us at info@aarbf.org.

On Saturday, March 8, 2025, Torrance Firefighters hosted their annual spaghetti dinner. It is so uplifting to see the Torrance community coming together to participate in this family-friendly event. We were delighted to have staff from the Torrance Memorial Burn Unit join us as we greeted and spoke with guests. We are thankful for the over 50 years of support we have received from the Torrance Firefighters and the Torrance Firefighters Women’s Association. The dinner as always was delicious and the bake sale items were scrumptious. If you get the chance, please give a huge thank you to the Torrance Firefighters for their continued support of our burn survivor programs and mission.

Our annual California Statewide Ski Trip 2025, took place March 7-9th. With 37 burn survivors and 19 counselors/staff, a total of 56 of us enjoyed an amazing snow-filled weekend at the Bear Valley ski resort!

Our group enjoyed a sunny day out on the slopes learning how to snowboard and ski. Later on in the day we also had the opportunity to enjoy snowmobiling in town. Thank you to our amazing CIT’s Fireball and Freebird for assisting our group for this weekend event. Another thank you to our survivors for being a part of this trip, we hope you had an amazing time. An extra thank you to our volunteers who drove our campers to and from and ensured their safety throughout the weekend; Jackrabbit, Hydra, Chop Suey, Kappa, Ricky Rescue, Cannonball, Lentil, Domino, Sinker, Princess, Buc, Pinecone, Skipper, Tokyo, Mee Mee, Rascal, Mougly, Alpine and Kika.

This trip would not have been possible without the amazing leadership of our very own Jack Rabbit and the support from Angel Flight West, Stockton Fire, Murphys Fire, Ebbetts Pass Fire, Arnold Angels, Bear Valley Mountain Resort, Bear Valley Snowmobiles, Bear Valley Public Safety, Gold Country Roasters, and Manteca Fire. Thank you all for making this weekend so special.

On March 19th, AARBF’s Erika “Kika” Mendoza and Michael “Buddy” Knopf had a wonderful opportunity to present information about burn camps alongside Joe Pick and Valorie Smart from the Fire Fighters Burn Institute (FFBI) at Shriners Hospital for Children Northern California. Our presentations aimed to provide the Shriner’s staff with valuable insights regarding burn camps. We want the staff to feel confident when referring their patients to the programs offered by both of our organizations.

There are many burn camps, retreats, and weekend events available for burn survivors, and the more awareness we create, the more survivors we can reach and support.

We are grateful to share a common mission: to provide a safe environment for burn survivors to try new activities and become part of a larger, united burn community that supports their recovery. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Shriners and continuing to grow our collaboration with the truly remarkable organization, FFBI.