Cancer Getaway for Kids and Teens

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you know I love doing grief counseling. I was the caregiver for my husband who had (and survived) cancer, my MIL died in January 2014 of cancer and many of you followed along that journey with me. And now for something completely different, I will be working with kids and teens who have a parent with cancer.

This June I will be the therapist for a week for Camp Kesem; a camp serving 140 kids and teens — at no fee — who have a parent who is currently in treatment for cancer, is in remission from cancer, or who has died from cancer. The camp allows these kids and teens to just play, hang out, do activities, and focus on things other than the backdrop of cancer in their lives. The counselors are all Stanford students, and 120 of them applied for 30 open positions! What a terrific resource we have here at Stanford.

Donations are what makes the camp free; relieving the families of any fiduciary worries amidst all of their other concerns. I hope you will consider making a  donation to support this incredible opportunity for the campers from around the country.

Here’s a little more from the Camp Kesem website:

“Camp Kesem provides a safe, supportive and exciting overnight camp experience for children . . . [provides] the unique opportunity to build friendships and gain strength from peers facing similar challenges.

Our Purpose:

– To build a supportive community for Bay Area families coping with cancer by creating the week of Camp Kesem and camp reunions.

– To empower students to participate in community service by providing leadership positions, organizational roles, and opportunities to work directly or indirectly with children who has/had a parent with cancer.”

I’m excited and honored to serve the campers and counselors.