The holidays are a time to get together with your family and reflect on the past year. People share laughs over heaping plates of food, strategize their Christmas shopping at five in the morning on Black Friday, and enjoy all the online discount codes at their disposal on Cyber Monday. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for most.
However, there are over three million children that will be making their holiday wish lists and asking for one thing: for their parents’ cancer to be cured. We often see strides against the disease itself, but we don’t always think about the implications cancer will have on the family of the individual, especially if they have young children. That’s where Camp Kesem comes in. With the mission statement, “A child’s friend through and beyond a parent’s cancer,” 80 chapters run by college students in 38 states across the country serve to make the lives of these children just a little bit better by giving them a week-long free summer camp experience.
I’m fortunate to be a part of the Camp Kesem Stony Brook chapter. Last year, we provided over 70 campers with an unforgettable week during the summer, full of sports, arts and crafts, camp songs, and a spectacular Fourth of July celebration. While it was fun all around, it was truly humbling to see the kids develop confidence and grow throughout the seven days they spent with us. Kesem provides the opportunity to connect with other children going through the same thing, and remind each camper that they are loved, valued, and not alone during this difficult time.
How do we do it? We fundraise. Each counselor has a fundraising goal of $500 minimum in order to send each camper to camp at absolutely no cost to their family. Counselors run bake sales, date auctions, and advertise on social media, hoping to attract donors. Some people offer favors and gifts in exchange for donations; some even dye their hair Kesem green and blue if they reach their goal by a certain date to heighten the stakes. We apply for grants from various organizations that seek to help charitable causes like ours. We do everything that we can for the kids.
So after Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales come to a close, participate in Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday is the day after Cyber Monday- this year it’s November 29th. Our chapter is aiming to raise $5,000 in a single day in order to get our camp preparations underway. You’ve already saved a ton by being a smart and savvy shopper; help us give kids who grow up way too fast an opportunity to be a kid again. Help us, and Karl the Caterpillar, our Kesem mascot, turn these caterpillars into butterflies. Contact your local Camp Kesem Chapter, which you can find here to see how you can get involved.
