Differences are what make us human; they make life interesting and diverse. Sometimes it is difficult to see our differences in a positive light, and being different can feel both alienating and awkward. At those times it is infinitely helpful to have someone, and especially a group, to turn to for comfort and support.

The Youth Rally is a summer camp, organized and ran by the Youth Rally Committee (YRC), that provides a non-threatening environment where adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 with bowel or bladder dysfunction can find education, support and friendship, all of which promote confident, independent living. Every year the Youth Rally instills the idea that everyone has the same opportunities and ability to reach and achieve their goals and dreams regardless of any medical or physical differences. The Youth Rally strives to show youths with ostomies or diversions that they are not alone.

The YRC is devoted to providing a positive atmosphere of support, learning and personal growth for youths who have or have had any of the following: ostomy procedures such as a colostomy, urostomy or ileostomy; continent procedures such as a J-pouch, Koch Pouch, Cecostomy, Malone, Mitrofanoff; bladder augmentation; IBD - Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease; Spinabifida, or partial paralyzation; bladder or bowel incontinence.

The Youth Rally has been a successful program for over 25 years because of the generous assistance of support groups and their members, individual and corporate sponsors, and the WOCN. The YRC relies on new and ongoing financial support from groups and individuals in order to plan, organize and operate the Youth Rally in a continuing effort to show youths with ostomies or diversions that they can live independently of their medical conditions. If it were not for this ongoing assistance, the Youth Rally would not be able to provide the wonderful opportunities for growth and learning that its young campers have developed and thrived on. This valuable program could not exist without the support it receives from its friends and family.

This website offers information and news about the Youth Rally, the YRC, opportunities, and the different ways to donate and support them both. It provides information about becoming a camper, counselor, or nurse, including applications for each, and links to other sites for and about groups and organizations dedicated to creating support and informational networks for people of all ages with ostomies and diversions.