From Camp Counselor to Community Changemaker
For Vic McCarty, what began as an internship has grown into a personal passion.
Vic is the Chief Community Engagement Officer for Hemophilia of Georgia (HoG), a hemophilia treatment center, research leader and nonprofit representing patients with inherited blood disorders.
“We provide comprehensive care and treatment and medical resources to folks who live in the state of Georgia who have inherited blood disorders,” Vic explained. “We provide outreach, nursing, social work services, patient programs and educational programs. We do some fundraising events as a nonprofit, and we serve the entire state — border to border, birth to death.”
HoG also offers multiple camp programs for kids with inherited blood disorders — that’s where Vic got his start at the nonprofit 25 years ago.
“I volunteered at their summer camp program, and then I was an intern in 2001. Then I was hired as the camp director,” he shared. “I just stumbled on it honestly. I was in school and finishing my degree, and I had to do an internship.
“I knew I wanted to do something in youth programming, but the medical side of hemophilia was not anything I had a natural interest in at first.”
As he researched more about HoG, he was touched by the way HoG was serving the community. He remembers one young camper whose story made a lasting impression.
“I had a little camper who would come to camp for a summer or two, and then I wouldn’t see him for a summer. Then he’d be back,” he said. “His dad was in sales and would get transferred. They might be living in Pennsylvania one year, and they might be living in California one year.”
One day the father shared something special with Vic. “I’ll never forget when he said, ‘I’m in sales and so by nature I’m going to travel and I’m going to be transferred to different areas of the country. But when I’m given the opportunity to get back to Georgia, that’s a high priority for me because I know hemophilia care in Georgia is topnotch.’”
Following four years as the camp director, Vic transitioned to working in community development and fundraising for about a decade before leaving HoG to pursue another opportunity.
In 2021, he returned to the nonprofit to help foster community engagement and support. One way he’s helped HoG build community connections is through a partnership with the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia.
“[President and CEO] DePriest [Waddy] and I ran in the same circles just being in the nonprofit world,” he explained. “He had been talking to me about funds and joining the foundation, and the timing was right for us to become a fundholder.
“We’re such a niche organization,” he said. “So we’re continuing to promote awareness of who we are and what we do because a lot of people are just not familiar with us.”
Opening a fund to raise financial support and build community awareness is more important than ever for HoG as they expand hemophilia treatment and care across the world with recent efforts in Dubai and South Africa.
“We raise money to help us go into those areas and help them develop treatment and care models like Hemophilia of Georgia,” he said.
“If we get asked to go to Africa again or to Switzerland or wherever, we want to be able to go and help people who have hemophilia get access to care and treatment that we are fortunate to have in Georgia.”
To support Hemophilia of Georgia as they expand care in our state and across the globe, donate today:
Hemophilia of Georgia Global Impact Fund