When he was younger, Phil Dorjath looked forward to one week out of the year — the third week in June.

That week, Dorjath would attend the TLC Camp in Lombard. He would spend the week having fun, and be able to forget about the health problems ailing him.

Dorjath was 4 when he was diagnosed with Wilms’ tumor, a form of kidney cancer that typically occurs in children.

“I’ve always loved the camp,” Dorjath said. “It’s somewhere kids can come and not worry about anything.”

Seventeen years later, Dorjath is healthy and comes from his home in Batavia to volunteer as a TLC camp counselor, and hasn’t missed a camp since his first more than 15 years ago.

“It’s like a second home,” Phil said. “I would like to keep doing it as long as I can.”

This year, 90 campers were joined by 86 counselors, five nurses, two directors and two assistant directors, all volunteers, for the 27th annual TLC Camp, a five-day camp for children with cancer and siblings who accompany them. TLC Camp is the only camp in the state to  have a sibling come along with each camper, said camp co-director Sue Bielenda.

The camp, sponsored by the Lombard Junior Women’s Club, is open to children ages 5 to 13 each year at no cost. Bielenda estimates cost for each camper to be between $400-500, including meals and transportation to and from activities outside the Sunset Knoll grounds.

Donations received by the Lombard Junior Women’s Club and other local women’s clubs in the area ensure no child is ever left out.

“We’ve never turned a camper away,” Bielenda said. “No one should be turned away.”

The majority of the activities are held at the Sunset Knoll Recreation Center, but campers were treated to field trips on three days of the camp this year. Scheduled events included a trip “The Barn” in Willowbrook, where campers were taken on wagon rides and rode horses, and a trip to Paradise Bay Water Park, Lombard’s new water park.

On Tuesday, campers, counselors, directors and nurses, equipped with everything including medication and cots in case a camper needed a rest, packed up and headed to Enchanted Castle in Lombard.

Campers had free reign over their choice of entertainment. Some opted to quickly use their ration of tokens. Some hit the miniature golf course. Others chose to hit each other in “Krazy Kars,” a form of bumper cars.

The campers come from as near as Lombard and Villa Park, and as far as Arlington Heights, like Jake. The 12-year-old is legally blind from a brain tumor that was removed. He said he is enjoying camp so much he told his parents he wants to come back again, and keep coming back as a counselor in the years to come.

“I love it,” Jake said. “The best part of each day is the surprises.”