It’s Desmond Benimoff’s first time at Camp Good Days.

So far, he’s got an arm tattoo, hula hooped and now he wants an elephant painted on his face. 

That, among other things. 

“I'm looking forward to getting better, getting this needle out of me,” Desmond said.

Desmond was diagnosed with leukemia in back in January. 

He’s one of the 54 kids taking a break this week at Camp Good Days, thinking about something other than their cancer treatment schedule. 

“Children have something to look forward to when they come to Camp Good Days,” said Lisa Booz, WNY regional director for Camp Good Days. “It just gets them out of the hospital, out of that realm of cancer and sicknesses all around them and it's like they step through the doors here and are like ugh finally I can be a kid, I can have fun and everyone here knows what they're going through, it's not that we're forgetting they have cancer, we're just trying to give them that childhood that cancer took away.”

Even for kids like Anthony Croce, whose dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, the fun-filled week helps him forget his worries. 

“It's hard, it's hard, it was hard, but this definitely helps in that way you know to help them get their minds off of it and have fun and if it wasn't for Camp Good Days, there's a lot of things we wouldn't of been able to do,” said Mary Croce, Anthony's mom.

For the past 40 years, Camp Good Days has been a light for families, putting parents' mind at ease, and letting kids be kids.