Athletes Support Children Living with Serious Illnesses through Camp Challenge Rides

WESTPORT, Conn., Aug. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Dedicated athletes and volunteers from California to Connecticut will team up next month for a national cycling event aimed to raise over half a million dollars to support six SeriousFun camps serving children with serious illnesses in the U.S.

The Camp Challenge Rides will take place on Saturday, September 8^th, with each camp hosting a 15, 30, and 62 mile trek along scenic courses surrounding their camp grounds. The camps hosting the events include The Painted Turtle, California; The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, Connecticut; Camp Boggy Creek, Florida; Double H Ranch, New York; Camp Korey, Washington, and Victory Junction, North Carolina.  Nearly 1,000 riders are expected to participate to help reach the fundraising goal of $500,000.

All six camps are part of SeriousFun Children's Network, a growing global community of independently managed and financed camps and partnership programs serving children and families with serious medical conditions. The organization was founded by Paul Newman in 1988 and currently consists of 29 initiatives worldwide, including 14 camps, 12 Global Partnership Initiatives, and 3 camps in development.  Together, the Network serves over 32,000 children every year across the globe.

The Camp Challenge Ride was made possible thanks to $160,000 in capacity-building support from Wishes by Wyndham, the philanthropic foundation of Wyndham Worldwide, one of the world's largest hospitality companies. With a focus on improving the lives of children, Wishes by Wyndham supports SeriousFun as the signature charity of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, whose associates will show their support by volunteering at the rides, participating as cyclists, and helping raise additional funds.

"We salute the athletes, volunteers, and staff coming together on the same day across the country to support children with serious illnesses," said John C. Read, President and CEO of SeriousFun Children's Network. "We greatly appreciate Wyndham's leadership in supporting this important initiative, which will help six of our camps extend their programs to even more children and their families free of charge."

"As a vacation company, we understand the importance of taking regular vacations and share a similar vision of providing families and children with the opportunity to experience vacations while creating memories and enjoying time with family and friends," said Franz S. Hanning, President and CEO of Wyndham Vacation Ownership. "We proudly support SeriousFun Children's Network as our signature charity, and the Camp Challenge Rides are a great way to extend our support to the camps across the U.S. while engaging our employees in this wonderful cause."

The Camp Challenge Ride has grown steadily over the past several years. This year's ride will feature the most camps participating since the event began. Last year, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, The Painted Turtle, Double H Ranch, Victory Junction, and Camp Boggy Creek hosted rides.

To learn more about the Camp Challenge Rides, please visit www.teamseriousfun.org/campchallengerides2012.

SeriousFun Children's Network is a growing global community of independently managed and financed camps and partnership programs that have come together with a common purpose – to provide life-changing experiences to children with serious illnesses and their families around the world. Since 1988, more than 384,700 children and their families have been served, including over 253,800 children from 50 countries. Today, SeriousFun Children's Network includes 28 initiatives worldwide, all reaching beyond illness to help children and their families discover joy, confidence and a new world of possibilities. SeriousFun Children's Network and each of its member camps are independent not-for-profit organizations dependent upon private funding and the generosity of others to serve all children free of charge.  To support SeriousFun, visit www.seriousfunnetwork.org.

Wyndham Vacation Ownership, a member of the Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) family of companies, is the world's largest vacation ownership business, as measured by the number of vacation ownership resorts, individual vacation ownership units and owners of vacation ownership interests. Wyndham Vacation Ownership develops, markets and sells vacation ownership interests and provides consumer financing to owners through its three primary consumer brands, CLUB WYNDHAM®, WorldMark by Wyndham, and Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific. As of December 31, 2011, Wyndham Vacation Ownership had developed or acquired more than 160 vacation ownership resorts throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the South Pacific that represent approximately 20,750 individual vacation ownership units and more than 800,000 owners of vacation ownership interests. Wyndham Vacation Ownership is headquartered in Orlando, Fla., and is supported by approximately 13,700 employees globally.

Media Contact:
Debra Kroszner
Associate Director of Communications
SeriousFun Children's Network
203-571-0696
[email protected]

SOURCE SeriousFun Children's Network