On this Thanksgiving Eve, I am of course thankful for my dear friends and family, but I am lucky enough to have dear friends and family that extend well beyond those in my immediate circle.

In fact, one of those dear friends, a long time Korean Heritage Camp dad, former Heritage Camp Board member, and all around great guy, Mike Grenda, unexpectedly passed away on Sunday after a long illness. Mike was one of those "camp dads" who did things like push the big yellow truck out of the mud on a particularly rainy camp weekend, chaperone those rowdy high school campers on the overnight campouts we used to have, spend hours chopping chicken for lunch, then grilling it, after figuring out how to keep the grill lit, run to Frasier for countless "little things" we missed, load and unload that truck every single year, and return to camp as an alum every year since his daughter (now 24 years old) graduated from camp. He was always just there, lending a hand, telling a good joke, and supporting us all the way.  We at KHC will miss you Mike, and thank you for being the kind of "camp dad" and person you were.

And....there are countless other "camp dads and moms" just like Mike, who we simply could not run this organization without!  Creative people, hardworking people, generous people, and unbelievably devoted people who every year, make our camps run, and who know firsthand what the experience means to their children, and to ALL of the children and families who come to camp! There are those crazy, wonderful people on the "front lines," who are board members, camp directors, and camp coordinators, and there are those amazing people "behind the scenes" who simply come to camp with a full heart and a "roll up the sleeves" attitude that make it all so much easier! I wish I could list you all here, but there is probably some "blogging rule" about that!  I hope you know who you are - in your hearts I know you do. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. We couldn't do it without you! Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!