Events

Cambridge Camping On The GO 2023! A Conversation with Ron Suskind

Cambridge Camping welcomed Pulitzer Prize Winner Ron Suskind to share his story about raising his son with autism. At age 3, Ron’s son Owen inexplicably retreated behind a wall of silence. Ron and his wife were devastated. Where did Owen go? Would he ever return? What followed for Ron and the Suskind family were many painful years marked by doubt, fear, false hope and repeated failure, until one day came a thrilling and unexpected breakthrough. Turns out, Owen was there all along; he was just waiting to be found. Ron’s story speaks to the power of meeting children where they are, and what that asks of us as adults: a willingness to reconsider our deeply held beliefs about what constitutes a successful, meaningful, and happy life. In the end, the Suskind family’s journey is a story about love, community, respect, and joy.

The Annual Community Service Award!

Cambridge Camping is proud to present the annual community service award to Dr. Rene Russo. As Xilio’s CEO, Dr. Russo has embedded a culture of giving back by orchestrating multiple donation drives and fundraising activities and creating an annual day of service and other volunteer opportunities throughout the year. For over a decade, Dr. Russo’s philanthropy efforts have extended across the greater Boston community, supporting non-profits and initiatives to benefit children and their families. Dr. Russo is a founding Board member for Life Science Cares, an organization that unites the life sciences industry to help address the impact of poverty and provide basic needs and access to education and opportunity. For six years, she served as a Trustee for the Nashoba Brooks School in Concord and, over the years, has engaged in so many other opportunities to give back through community service, donations, and fundraising.

In 2022, René reached out to Cambridge Camping to develop a Xilio donation campaign during the holidays to help send kids to our summer camps. Through Dr. Russo’s continued support, this year Xilio donated and filled up more than 170 backups of camping items for our summer campers and spent the day volunteering at one of our summer camps.