“Sunny Dancer,” a new coming-of-age comedy distributed by Quiver Distribution, opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, Sept. 18. As the film reaches national audiences, Care Camps Foundation, a nonprofit that funds oncology camps for children, teens and their families across the U.S. and Canada, is inviting viewers to learn about the real camps behind the story, according to a press release.
Founded in 1984, Care Camps Foundation has raised more than $30 million to fund 126 oncology camps that served more than 47,000 children, teens and family members — including siblings and parents — in 2025 alone, all at no cost to families.
“Sunny Dancer” follows Ivy, played by Bella Ramsey, a teenager in remission whose parents send her to a camp for young people affected by cancer. Led by camp director Patrick, played by Neil Patrick Harris, the camp becomes a place where Ivy finds new friendships and an unexpected sense of belonging. As Ivy puts it, in describing her time at camp, “…here I’m just Ivy, not Ivy with cancer.”
“What Ivy finds at camp in the film – the friendships, the belonging, the feeling of finally being around people who understand what you’ve been through without having to explain it – that’s exactly right,” said Gwynn B. Sullivan, MSN, executive director of Care Camps Foundation. “That’s what these camps do, every year, for tens of thousands of kids, siblings and parents. And for so many of them, it doesn’t stop there – some come back as counselors, and others are so shaped by the experience that they go on to build careers in medicine. Camp changes the trajectory of their lives.”
“I wanted to make a film about what happens after treatment ends and remission begins: the friendships, the fun, the chance to just be a teenager again,” said 25-year-old director and writer George Jaques, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor. “‘Sunny Dancer’ isn’t an advertisement for any real camp. It’s my version, made up for the film. But that feeling of finally being around people who get it – that’s the real thing. That’s what I wanted people to feel.”
Beyond the Screen
As with many coming-of-age stories, “Sunny Dancer” captures the freedom and adventure of camp through a cinematic lens; in practice, pediatric and adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology camps pair that sense of adventure with attentive supervision and well-established safety measures. Other details in “Sunny Dancer” ring especially true. Many camps find thoughtful ways to remember campers who have died, reflecting how these communities hold space for both joy and loss. The film also conveys the deeply personal connection that many staff members and volunteers have to childhood cancer and the families it affects.
Camp isn’t limited to kids actively in treatment. Survivors, kids at different stages of their cancer journey, and, at many camps, healthy siblings and even parents all take part, through sessions built for each group. The goal, as Care Camps Foundation puts it, is to support the whole family, not just the child with the diagnosis.
Many campers return year after year – first as kids, later as counselors. Others carry the experience further still, going on to become nurses and doctors themselves – the kind of full-circle transformation Care Camps Foundation sees again and again.
Care Camps Foundation funds oncology camps; it does not operate them. The safety and quality of every camp that Care Camps Foundation funds are overseen by the Children’s Oncology Camping Association (COCA) through its accreditation program. Campers and their families attend at no cost.
“Our hope is that this film helps more families discover that these camps exist, because so many still don’t know,” Sullivan added. “We’d love for people to learn more, get involved, or help us bring that experience to the next child and family who needs it.”
