Starting June 26, Hallmark fans can join host Jen Lilley for an online virtual summer camp celebrating all things Christmas. Camp Christmas in July will run for five weeks and include scavenger hunts, drawing classes, and the chance to win prizes.
Lilley announced the program in a video she posted to her Instagram account, with a sign that read, “Christmas is not cancelled!”
The website describes the event as an “interactive virtual camp where we can come together as a community once a week to play games, have fun, and create lasting friendships as we support our common goal of helping kids in need.”
Campers can log on different days for group activities that will be led by Lilley. Starting June 26, visitors to the website will be able to purchase “backpack bundles” containing everything a child in foster care will need to attend school in the coming year. The goal is to provide 2,021 children with school supplies.
For a good cause
The cause is an important one to Lilley, who has been both an adoptive and a foster mother. She and her husband, Jason Wayne, adopted sons Kayden and Jeffrey — who are half brothers — after fostering each of them. They also have a biological daughter, Julie Evangeline, who was born in 2019.
In July of 2020, Lilley released the single “On the Street Where You Live,” which raised more than $50,000 to benefit children in the foster care system.
“Christmas is not Cancelled!”
The idea for Camp Christmas in Juy came to Lilley during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tired of everything getting cancelled, Lilley decided that she was going to save Christmas for kids in need. Using social media, her Christmas is Not Cancelled initiative raised 10,000 donations for the Toys for Tots Foundation. The success of the initiative inspired Camp Christmas in July.
A veteran of General Hospital, Lilley has starred in 12 Hallmark movies, including Mingle All the Way, Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday, Snowkissed, and USS Christmas.
Her online summer camp will coincide with the Hallmark Channel’s annual Christmas in July event.
Campers will have the chance to win prizes such as a pre-lit Balsam Hills Christmas tree, a stay at Great Wolf Lodge, and a Big Green Egg grill.
In a video promoting the camp, Lilley said it was her mission to spread “perpetual cheer.”
“All year round,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what month it is.”
Campers can find a schedule of events and register at Christmas is Not Cancelled.