2025 Annual Impact Report

A Place to Exhale

Dear Friends of Camp Odayin:

When a family first learns their child has a congenital heart defect, they are handed an enormous amount of medical information and very little else. They navigate surgeries, hospitalizations, and school accommodations largely on their own, often feeling like the only family in the world going through this.  Likely holding their breath, anxious about what lies ahead. 

Odayin is a community built around shared understanding.   A place where a child with a scar down their chest doesn’t have to explain anything, where a super sibling can finally meet someone who gets it, where a parent comes home from a retreat and tells their partner, “You were right. I needed that.” For so many of our families, it’s the first time they’ve exhaled.

For most of our campers, Odayin is the first place they’ve ever just been a kid. They arrive guarded, are used to sitting out of activities, and being the one everyone worries about. But at Odayin, nobody must explain their scar, why their lips are blue, or why they need a golf cart ride to the beach. That common ground lets them exhale.

Our incredible village of supporters, volunteers, heart families, and the medical practitioners make this community possible.
A place where our tagline comes to life – kids play, worries rest, fun happens.  A place to exhale. 

With deep gratitude,
Sara Meslow
Executive Director

p.s. Peek at “Breathing Brings Benefits” from the American Heart Association.

In 2025, our supportive programs provided connection, belonging, and joy to 952 children with heart disease and their family members. We moved our Minnesota Family Camp to a larger location and our two Family Camp weekends were attended by a record number of families. Summer Camp attendance reflected our strongest retention ever, with 88% of eligible 2024 campers returning in 2025. There were so many meaningful friendships and joyful memories made this year!

All of our programs were made possible by 380 dedicated volunteers who contributed more than 13,330 hours to support our fundraisers, camps, and office operations. We’re so grateful for everyone who generously contributed to fostering a lasting sense of belonging for heart heroes and their families.

• Summer Camp offers campers in grades 1-11 an opportunity to enjoy traditional camp activities in a medically supervised environment during a five-day overnight experience. There are three sessions in Crosslake, MN and one session in Elkhorn, WI.
• Family Camp is an opportunity for families of a child with heart disease from birth to 12th grade to come together for fun, education, and connection. Weekend sessions are hosted in Annandale, MN and Salem, WI.
• Winter Camp brings together school-aged campers to enjoy broomball on a frozen lake, hot cocoa, and snow tubing over a three-day weekend in Amery, WI.
• Moms Retreat is a time for moms of heart heroes to connect for support, education and empowerment during weekends in White Bear Lake, MN and Lake Geneva, WI.
• Dads Weekend is a time of outdoor recreation, education, and camaraderie in Prior Lake, MN for dads of heart heroes.
• Mortimer’s Mates is a group for former Odayin campers that provides continued connection, alumni events, speakers, and more.

As of December 31, 2025

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Will Feinberg is a former camper who attended his final year at summer camp in 2007. He’s now a pianist and music teacher who lives in California. We were overjoyed to reunite with Will when he volunteered during the high school session of summer camp in Minnesota. He emailed the following to Sara after his return home:

I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for pestering me, for following up, for getting me back to camp this summer, and for making it all happen in the first place. It was incredible – I’ve never experienced a week quite like it as an adult.

Being a counselor for my campers is one of the highlights of my life, and it gave me a sense of purpose and joy that is different than anything I’ve ever felt. I’ve led a really good life up to now, but there is something completely different to being a part of a kid’s life. Getting to see them grow in real time, and to see their lights begin to shine …. There’s nothing like it, and especially at a place like Camp Odayin.

I remember while waiting for my flight in the terminal at MSP, I wrote, “There is nothing more important than the joy and safety of children.” I had a lot of takeaways from that week, most of which I’m still processing, but that realization will stick with me forever, and I suspect it will change the path of my own life eventually. 

All of these incredible moments, this joy, and growth and tears, everything is all possible through all that you do. Being a heart kid isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but over the course of decades during my life and the lives of others, you’ve made it a little bit easier. Odayin has impacted so many people, has saved so many lives, and has sweetened those that have been cut short. 

I know you know what you do is really important, but I feel like I needed to tell you, as someone whose own life has been changed for the better twice now,  THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for everything you do with Odayin. The world is a better place for it, and I can’t imagine my life without it. 

With love and gratitude, 
Will Feinberg

• Celebrating Life – We play with purpose, create fun, and share hope.
• Commitment to Community – We remove barriers and build connections, knowing we are stronger together.
• Emotional Safety – We create an environment that honors mutual respect, trust and acceptance. 
• Personal Growth – We try new things to build confidence and encourage gratitude.