Camp Kesem

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Camp Kesem is a community of college campuses, on which student leaders develop and operate free week-long summer camps for children in families coping with cancer. Camp Kesem is currently on 20 campuses around the United States.

Position Statement: Camp Kesem is a college student-run summer camp for kids whose parents have (or have had) cancer. Camp Kesem transforms kids into campers who return home with an enhanced sense of confidence and a new set of powerfully bound friendships forged in a cancer-aware yet fun-focused environment.

Kesem (n.): magic; the ability to change a life; an agent of growth; the unique power that transforms kids into Camp Kesem Campers

Contents

[edit] History

The first Camp Kesem project was founded at Stanford University in 2000 as a project of Hillel at Stanford, a nonprofit serving Jewish students at the University. The project was developed by a group of student leaders who sought to create a magical summer camp experience for children in need.

After assessing the needs of the community, the students found that children who have/had a parent with cancer comprised an under-served population who could benefit from a summer camp experience with peers who faced similar challenges.

The Camp Kesem project at Stanford hosted its first summer session in June 2001 free of charge to 37 campers. Since then, the project has continued and has grown each year to engage more student volunteers and serve more children.

Based on the success of the Camp Kesem project at Stanford, Camp Kesem National was founded in August 2002 to share the Camp Kesem project model with college campuses across the nation.

Year Founded Campus
2000 Stanford University
2002 Duke University/University of North Carolina

University of Notre Dame
2003 University of California, San Diego
2004 UCLA
University of California, Davis
Indiana University
Northwestern University
2005 University of Virginia
The College of Saint Rose
2006 MIT
University of Illinois
University of California, Berkeley
Columbia University
Michigan State University
Arizona State University
2007 BYU
2008 Texas A&M University

[edit] Need

Children who have or had a parent with cancer are neither physically ill nor visibly distinct from other children. As a result, their situation at home is often unknown to peers and teachers and their emotional needs often go unnoticed.

In addition, it is challenging for these children to find peers with whom they can relate, and they are often left feeling completely alone when coping with the fear, anger, guilt, and sadness associated with having a parent who has cancer or has died from cancer.

[edit] How Camp Kesem fulfills this need

Camp Kesem camp programs give these children a place to be where they no longer feel alone---every child at Camp Kesem can understand what their fellow campers are going through. Many children at Camp Kesem programs develop friendships with peers to whom they can truly relate for the first time in their lives.

At Camp Kesem, children are empowered with the tools to express their emotions through camp activities, such as arts and crafts, drama, and cabin chat. The tools, and the friendships gained provide support for these children well beyond the week of camp.

Other than the Camp Kesem camp programs, there are very few camp programs in the United States that serve this population. There are thousands of children in need of the support a Camp Kesem program provides, and Camp Kesem National is committed to fulfilling this need, one camp, one child, at a time.

[edit] Vision, Mission, and Values

Vision: To create a community where fun has the power to transform lives.

Mission: Our mission is twofold:
- To provide kids whose parents have or have had cancer with a summer camp experience that gives them a chance to be kids
- To allow college students to channel their passion for making a difference, while developing critical leadership skills for long-term social impact

Values:
-Compassion
-Community
-Safety
-Confidence
-Leadership
-Magic


[edit] External links