The Ruth Gottscho Kidney Foundation

This summer will be our 52nd season. Located at the Frost Valley YMCA in Catskills, N.Y., our program is the only sleep-away camp that mainstreams children with kidney disease with healthy campers. The Ruth Gottscho Dialysis Center on site is staffed by Children’s Hospital at Montefiore’s Pediatric Nephrology Department.

In 2020, the RGKF became a fund affiliated with CFNJ. This partnership helps us to sustain our work into the future while maintaining our existing mission — making the dream of summer camp a reality for children with kidney disorders. We benefit from CFNJ’s philanthropic expertise, administrative support, and technical knowledge to ensure your contribution has the greatest positive impact for children and their families.

Our history

Ruth Gottscho was 15 years old when she died of kidney disease in 1960, before dialysis was widely available. Her parents founded the RGKF that year to help other New Jersey kidney patients. For several years, we purchased home dialysis machines for families who could not afford this life-saving equipment. When Medicare began covering much of the treatment kidney patients needed, the RGKF shifted its focus to helping children with kidney disorders attend summer camp — a dream of Ruth’s that wasn’t possible during her lifetime.