Flying Horse Farms is a non-profit that provides camper experiences year-round for kids with serious illnesses and their families that was first opened in 2010 and hosts around 900 children and families every year. It is also a Service Provider for Conway Center for Family Business. We met with Sara McCain with Flying Horse Farms to learn more about the non-profit and discuss why they chose to be one of our Service Providers.
Who are you and what do you do for Flying Horse Farms?
I’m Sara McCain, as Director of Communications & External Relations for Flying Horse Farms, I oversee our communications and marketing efforts as well as our guest experiences and rentals teams – both actively engaged in connecting with our external camp champions.
Tell us about Flying Horse Farms
Flying Horse Farms is a medical specialty camp that provides healing, transformative experiences for children with serious illnesses and their families – at no cost. Located in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, the camp first opened its gates in 2010 and has provided more than 10,000 experiences since then. Serving kids and young people ages 7-21 and their families, from Ohio and beyond. Behind camp magic is an incredible community of volunteers, 90+ per session, who make more possible for every camper. In 2024, we have hit 1,500 volunteer experiences and are on track to serve 1,000 campers by year end.
Campers come with a myriad of different diagnoses we cater for. So when they come to camp, they have this opportunity to sit around a table with friends. It can be the first time meeting somebody that has their same diagnosis. So it provides this opportunity where kids can have the first time that they get to label themselves. They're not labeled by their diagnosis. I think that can be really powerful. Our mission is to foster healing, growth, and thriving for children with significant health challenges.
As a nonprofit, why do you find it valuable to be a Service Provider member of the Conway Center?
The community behind camp, invested in Flying Horse Farms and who give of their time and talent as volunteers and camp creators (mission aligned organizations that show up to turn over camp between sessions) are the driving force that make the mission possible. Being connected to Conway has provided opportunities to engage more people with camp, bringing more passionate people to the work and broadening our ability to reach potential campers, volunteers, and supporters. Flying Horse Farms is proud to be an asset to the Conway Center as a space within central Ohio for members to host events. Conway members have held onsite retreats, workshops and gatherings at Flying Horse Farms. The location being in central Ohio affords easy travel for associates and affordable prices.
Flying Horse Farms guarantees the opportunity for a transformational experience for all who visit. People often talk about their “camp family”. Camp family is huge to us because at camp, we say family is what you make of it, but I think what has drawn us continually back to Conway is the sense of community that you build throughout your membership. It's also knowing that a lot of supporters of Flying Horse Farms are businesses, whether they're small, large, or mission alliances. I think it's where we've continually found people that believe in our mission.
How can our members take advantage of what Flying Horse Farms provides?
Camp provides a transformational experience – not just for our campers and those we serve, but for everyone who comes on-site. When volunteers give their time and get a dose of camp, they can show a shy camper it's okay to be silly. Underneath the laughter and fun, watch yourself transform - each interaction changes you and creates more for campers. Volunteer roles include being an activity counselor, supporting the kitchen as K-crew, family sidekicks, and more! Beyond volunteering, companies can engage with Flying Horse Farms as Camp Creators. Camp Creators support the need to turn over camp between sessions. We welcome companies, businesses, and organizations to spend time with us not only making more possible at camp but serving as a space for building relationships amongst coworkers, presenting an atmosphere of togetherness and opening the floor for leadership, all while giving back.
Our event space rental opportunities provide incredible experiences for businesses. So, we will partner with a company to figure out what their needs are. Do you want to use our space for presentation purposes, or do you want to leverage some of the camp's innate skills? Would you love to do archery and talk about how it can lead to affirmations? Would you like to do the ropes course as leadership training for your team? Or you can do a little bit of that, and then infuse your own programming. We meet with each interested company, figure out what their goal is, and then create a plan around it. We can even do overnight rentals (Our big red barn sleeps 65)!
Thank you to our friend Sara McCain from Flying Horse Farms for participating in this valuable and informative interview.
If you are interested in being featured on our News & Updates Blog or have any questions please contact lflint@familybusinesscenter.com