More than 5 million children in the United States have a parent or primary guardian who has been impacted by cancer. As anyone who’s experienced this will tell you, these children have far from a typical childhood and need all the resources they can get to ensure they have a strong support system looking out for their emotional and mental needs.
Camp Kesem Central PA is one such resource that makes a difference in the lives of impacted children in our region.
Founded by Penn State students in 2013, Camp Kesem Central PA currently consists of about 120 volunteers, as well as an advisory board of State College professionals, who dedicate time and effort to put together not only a free, week-long getaway for dozens of local and regional kids, but also cultivate relationships with families throughout the year.
Peyton Haefner, who began volunteering with the group in her freshman year at Penn State, explains, “The week of camp is a lot like a traditional summer camp. There’s a lot of fun programming…but there is an aspect of emotional programming as well. Every night, the counselors in each unit will lead a question-based discussion with their group of campers and that’s an opportunity the campers have to open up about what might be going on at home with their parents. They can open up as much as they want. We never directly ask about their parents’ illness. We ask simple questions to open the door, if they want to talk about it in a safe space.
“In the middle of the week, we have something called Empowerment, which is like a big cabin chat for the whole camp. All the kids’ counselors and the professional staff (which includes two volunteer nurses and two volunteer mental health professionals), we all sit around in a circle and we have two counselors start off sharing their stories about how cancer impacted their lives and parents personally…Then we open the floor to campers so they can volunteer to share if they like.”
Camp Kesem Central PA’s teen unit constructed their own Mario Kart cars and raced them against one another and counselors. Photo provided.
The experience for kids can be life-changing, Haefner says, mentioning the many campers she’s seen over the years grow from reserved and shy to confident and sharing their individual stories.
“It’s a community kids can’t get anywhere else,” she says. “I think going to a camp where you’re surrounded by other kids who know what you’re going through, and can relate to a certain degree, and being surrounded by counselors and mental health professionals who just want to listen — I think that’s a lot different than any other services that are out there. I’ve heard so many times from parents [about] the change in confidence and openness they’ve seen in their kids from just one week.”
Camp Kesem Central PA continues to expand its reach to help more and more children in the region, going from just 20 campers during its first year to 80 last year and a goal of 105 this year. Supported entirely by donations and volunteer efforts, the organization needs a lot of assistance to remain free for families, but it seems the group has seen a large amount of community support. An April fundraising dinner held at Toftrees brought in $20,000 and Cancer Care Partnerships at Mount Nittany Health came onboard as one of the group’s corporate sponsors.
Counselors and teen campers at Camp Kesem Central PA. Photo provided
However, Haefner notes that the organization nationally still only reaches a little more than one-third of the children whose parents are affected by cancer. In order to stretch the local group’s impact even further, the student volunteers are looking to expand their advisory board and would like to get in contact with other Central Pennsylvania nonprofits.
For any inquiries about the Advisory Board or corporate sponsorships, the Camp Kesem Central PA team can be reached at centralpa@campkesem.org. Those interested in making a donation can do so at donate.kesem.org/centralpa2018.
For parents interested in registering their child for the 2018 camping experience, Aug. 13–18, which takes place at Camp Chen-A-Wanda in Thompson, Pa., questions can be directed to the outreach coordinators at centralpa.outreach@campkesem.org.
