During my summer stay in Washington, D.C. I had the privilege of making some lifelong friends. While some I worked with everyday, others I did not. Now, during my three months in the nation's capitol, one of the people I was fortunate enough to meet was Billy Roberts. Billy became a good friend, and to this day remains someone I admire, trust and believe is going to make a big difference in the complicated world we live in today. Currently, Billy is a sophomore at Yale University and is in the process of deciding which major he wants to pursue on his route to changing the world. Now, while Billy is a stand up guy, this story is not only about him. Rather, this story is about an organization Billy is a part of. What is that organization and why is it worth your time to keep reading about it you may ask? Well, let me tell you; the organization is Camp Kesem, and their goal is to "support children through and beyond their parents' cancer."

In November, Billy wrote an article for the Yale Daily News to tell people about his mission to raise money to help fund the camp. After reading it, I was inspired to learn more about Camp Kesem and what it means to be a part of it. It didn't take much to tell that Camp Kesem holds a big part of Billy's heart, and similar to some other volunteers, it's because he was once in the same place as some of the campers he's there to help. You see, Billy, like some of the kids that are supported by Camp Kesem, is a child who has experienced the loss of a parent. Billy was nine when his dad passed away, and today he describes the blur of the months that followed the death of his father as "hopeless place marked by loss and sadness." In his article, Billy talks about how without "summer camp, [his] grief and anxiety would have festered indefinitely."

As a nine- year-old who just lost his idol, Billy recounted how his peers didn’t know how to act when they saw him. "Most of them didn’t know how to empathize with [him], so they said they were sorry but quickly went back to their normal lives." He elaborated, saying that his "loneliness worsened as [he] began to feel like nobody understood [him]." However, fortunately for Billy, that changed when he met people like him at camp, people who were also experiencing the loss or the illness of a parent, people who knew what it felt like to hurt.

This is the driving reason behind Billy's involvement with Camp Kesem. The organization itself "currently has chapters at 88 colleges and universities across the country," and is working through volunteers to try and bring back the smiles to children across the nation like Billy.

The camp itself was started in 2000 through a nonprofit group at Stanford University with hopes to help children in need. Currently, the camp supports kids ages 6-16 "who have lost a parent to cancer, have a parent undergoing cancer treatment , or whose parent is a cancer survivor." Due to donations, most of which are raised by the volunteers of the camp, there is no cost for children to attend, one of the benefits for families who have spent large sums of money on cancer treatments.

This being said, as the holiday season rolls around, take a second to think about how you can help those in your surrounding area. In talking with Billy, he explained to me how "[from] a volunteer perspective, Camp Kesem is an opportunity to have a truly meaningful impact on the lives of children who have been through incredibly difficult and trying times. It’s an opportunity to gain new perspective on your own life, to discover the goodness, innocence, and strength of children, and to have your whole life changed by just a week of camp." Whether you achieve this by volunteering to help in a camp like Camp Kesem near you or by other means, consider how your life impacts those around you. If you are interested in helping out Billy in his journey to change more lives of children through Camp Kesem, you can donate directly to him through his donation page. In addition, don't be afraid to spread the word and volunteer if you have the time.

All in all, what Billy said to me when I asked him why people should care about Camp Kesem, I think, is not only a great way to summarize the impact a camp like this had on him, but how Camp Kesem is affecting everyone who participates in it. He said, "We all know someone who has been affected by cancer, and we have seen the effects that it can have on a family and friends. The toll it takes on kids can be immeasurable. Camp is their opportunity to seek support and love from others who have had the same experiences as them, which is an incredibly important part of their grieving process and can have lifelong positive impacts on their well-being."

So don't forget as the holidays roll around that some things are bigger than you. This giving season, consider giving some time, some thought, maybe a prayer or two and a dollar if possible to support Camp Kesem and the cause they support.

You can read Billy's article on the Yale Daily News website and keep up with Yale's Camp Kesem chapter's progress here.