The idea of giving means many things to people. For some, giving has been part of their lives for as long as they can remember. It was part of their upbringing, their vocation, or perhaps even their evocation. However, the most incredible part that goes hand in hand with giving is those who make it possible, whatever that might be.
In south-central Idaho, Camp Rainbow Gold (CRG), which began in the mid-1980s, is a nonprofit organization serving Idaho children diagnosed with cancer and their families. It serves 400 Idaho children and their families battling pediatric cancer through year-round programs and a medically supervised summer camp. It offers a safe and supportive environment for children to connect, heal, and thrive.
What started as a summer oncology camp now offers a sibling and family camp, a college scholarship program, and a teen support group. Still, it is now a year-round support operation. It is undoubtedly a special place, and anyone who has had an opportunity to become involved and visit camp knows how it changes lives—it changes everyone it touches. It is a shining, brilliant star offering momentary relief for kids with cancer, campers and their families.
In 2019, Camp Rainbow Gold purchased 172 acres of land in Fairfield, Idaho, for Hidden Paradise Camp. With a permanent home, Hidden Paradise Camp became Idaho’s first medical camp, and CRG was able to expand and stabilize all it does for its campers. As a dedicated healing space, it offers campers, families, and the next generations of campers a safe space and place filled with love—it’s where kids can be kids without fear. They can engage in outdoor activities, art, and theater and enjoy camp life from cabin raids to group productions or just rest.
“It’s love made visible,” says Camp Rainbow Gold CEO Elizabeth Lizberg on the CBS Evening News Heart of America with Norah O’Donnell. “Until very recently, we have had to turn kids away due to capacity issues… A local builder came out and built six more cabins for us in three days so we no longer have to turn kids away. It’s so much more than coming and having fun. We do it through fun. The value of kids coming to camp is that acceptance and opportunity to just be a kid.”
“We’ve been supporting Camp Rainbow Gold for 20 years,” says CBH Homes Vice President Ronda Conger. Elizabeth invited Ronda and the CBH team out to tour Hidden Paradise in June, showing them the progress that they’ve made but explaining they’re still turning kids away and asking CBH to build one of six total cabins they needed. “We drove away that day, and once in cell service, we called Elizabeth and said, 'We don’t want to do one cabin. We want to build all six and do it in three days.' It was an easy yes for us.”
In 2007, CBH Homes participated in the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show, building a house in less than seven days. “This wasn’t our first rodeo, and we were up for the challenge,” says Conger. In August 2024, Project Gold was launched. This was an enormous undertaking for CBH and one of their most significant projects to date. “Six ADA cabins in Fairfield, Idaho, two hours from Boise, brings a lot of challenges. From travel time and different building requirements to account for snow load, it was a huge undertaking.”
With only eight weeks to plan, the CBH team immediately went to their trade partners and suppliers, calling for support. “We believe that love wins. When we love our team and our community, we’ll win. Our trade partners and suppliers follow this belief. When we called on them for help, they jumped in and said yes. It takes a village, and we couldn't have done it without them.”
Another feat was orchestrating over a thousand people, including feeding them, having them sleep on site, and creating an RV Village and campground to allow full participation in a remote location outside Fairfield, Idaho, on the Camas Prairie. A CBH Home supplier, Greyloch cabinets, served food to 1,000 people for three days through donations from a food service company.
“We have a saying on our team. We only require two things: we need you passionate and caffeinated. It took every bit of our energy, coffee trucks, and 720 Red Bulls to get us to the finish line, and we’re beyond grateful for everyone who helped and hammered along the way. From feeding the mass amount of trades to the volunteers who built fire pits and supplied fish for Hidden Paradise’s pond to the hammock village, there was only one thought in our minds. Do it for the kids. And that’s what we did.”
Learn more about Project Gold and Camp Rainbow Gold at camprainbowgold.org.
'We don’t want to do one cabin. We want to build all six and do it in three days.' It was an easy yes for us." — Ronda Conger, CBH Homes Vice President
Project Gold
CBH Homes’ initiative to build cabins for Camp Rainbow Gold at Hidden Paradise includes 160 volunteers, 1,128 trade partners, 60 trade partner companies, 60 sponsor partners, 3,000 meals, and over 720 cans of Red Bull. It was an extraordinary display of community as the team overcame hurdles, storms, and delays to complete the project. With 36 bunk beds built, adding 72 beds, 12 hammocks for the Hammock Village, 400 fish added to the pond, and two firepits, CBH did not spare one detail for campers to arrive and enjoy their new cabins soon after construction was completed.
CBH Homes has been building new homes in Idaho for over 32 years, and for 19 of those, it has been Idaho’s #1 Builder, the Best Places to Work in Idaho, ranked #42 in the nation, and proudly working with over 26,000 happy homeowners. To learn more, visit Cbhhomes.com.
“We believe that love wins. When we love our team and our community, we’ll win. Our trade partners and suppliers follow this belief. When we called on them for help, they jumped in and said yes. It takes a village, and we couldn't have done it without them.”
—Ronda Conger, Vice President of CBH Homes
“The value of kids coming to camp is that acceptance and opportunity to just be a kid.”
—Elizabeth Lizberg, CEO Camp Rainbow Gold