Testimonials
CAMPER STORIES
“Zoe” - Zoe said that it’s OK if her mom dies because she knows her mom will always
be in her heart – she learned at camp that kids whose parents have died from cancer
continue to laugh and play and have fun at camp.
“Jack” – His dad died during the middle of camp one summer. We gave his mom the
option for Jack to come back to camp. He chose to come back the next day after the
funeral. He came back so much more outgoing, active, verbal, etc., like a burden
had been lifted off of him and CK gave him a place to feel safe and free and laugh
and play after experiencing the loss of his father. Jack’s mom told us that when he
returned from Camp Kesem that year, he was like a different child. She said he was
more self-confident and more willing to talk about his feelings than ever before.
Brian (Counselor, Camp Kesem-Stanford) - As a counselor in the Green unit I
remember reading a pre-camp "Letter to My Counselor" from a 12 year old girl named
Nicole. Nicole made it clear that she felt she was being forced to come to camp,
which she perceived would be boring (not unusual for a pre-teen girl) and tailored for
younger campers. I watched Nicole transform immensely over the week, her
demeanor changing quickly from sarcastic defiance to one that showed her true love
for camp. By the end of camp, Nicole expressed to me how glad she was that she still
had one more year before she was too old for the age-cutoff and she was persistent
suggesting that we create a counselor in training program for former campers
PARENT STORIES
“Julie” -- I was talking with a Camp Kesem parent, Julie, this morning. She is very
sick and feels she is approaching the end of her life journey. She is a single mother
with a nine year old daughter who has attended Camp Kesem at Stanford for the past
three years. She told me that she has been having some deep conversations with her
daughter recently. In one conversation, she shared with her daughter that the trick
to life is good friendships. They made a list of all the friends Amy has in her life who
will be there for her after her mother is gone. Camp Kesem and all the friends she
has from camp were on that list. The mother went on to share that she knows Amy
will be OK, because she has the love and support of so many people, including Camp
Kesem.
“Ruth” -- David’s mom, Ruth, told me how she was able to take her first vacation
ever this summer during Camp Kesem. She went to Hawaii by herself and had a
fabulous time. (Her husband died from brain cancer in June 2001.) She told me how
she felt so confident and comfortable leaving her kids with Camp Kesem for the
week. When she leaves her kids with her mom she worries, but when she leaves them
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© 2004 Camp Kesem National. All Rights Reserved. Camp Kesem & the Camp Kesem logo are trademarks of Camp Kesem National.
Testimonials
with Camp Kesem, she knows they will be fine. She told me how David doesn’t like
being with kids anywhere else, but loves being with the kids at Camp Kesem. It’s
something about the environment/atmosphere there. She said Sarah thrives at camp
– talks about it all the time.
“Lisa” -- Lisa told me about the peace it gave her this week to have Rachel safe and
secure at camp, knowing she is laughing and playing and having the time of her life.
It is so freeing for her (Lisa). She said it’s nice that Rachel has a magical place to fly
away to – Camp Kesem and that it’s good that Rachel is away from home while she is
in so much pain. The next day after Rachel left for camp, Lisa found out that her
cancer had spread to her lungs – she just sobbed and sobbed for hours – it was so nice
to have the freedom to sob while Rachel was gone at camp. It’s hard for Rachel to
watch her mom in so much pain and not be able to help. Rachel feels so helpless.
“Alice” -- Through his fellow campers, Craig has seen the many ways cancer
can impact the families it touches. He's aware that many people, like his Grandma,
who've had cancer live long lives. But he's also seen some of his fellow campers lose a
parent between one camp session and the next. He knows of the great loss, but even
so told me that he's seen those same kids come back the next year able to laugh and
play. He knows - he has seen that life can be happy, even after the death of a
parent. That's some gift.
CAMPER QUOTES
“[At Camp Kesem] everyone understands you and knows how you feel.”
-- camper, age 13
“[Camp Kesem] is by far the best camp I have ever been to. Everyone there had
about the same reason for being there and it was nice to know others had the same
experiences.”
-- camper, age 12
“During cabin chat I was free to express my feelings and everyone listened and no
one laughed.”
-- camper, age 11
“This is the best week I have ever had!”
-- camper, age 9
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© 2004 Camp Kesem National. All Rights Reserved. Camp Kesem & the Camp Kesem logo are trademarks of Camp Kesem National.
Testimonials
“[I like my friends at Camp Kesem because] they know what it feels like to live with
a person with cancer.”
-- camper, age 12
PARENT QUOTES
“It's made him comfortable with my having had cancer and living with the process -he knows he's not alone.”
– parent of camper, age 10
“[Camp Kesem] makes him feel safe in a world that he discovered at an early age is
insecure, and relaxes him by having seven days of non-stop fun."
– parent of camper, age 7
“Having come off a very tough year with quite a sickly father, this was a fun-filled,
active, self-esteem building camp that stood out as such a wonderfully positive event
in such a sad, depressing, stressful year of sickness.”
-- parent of camper, age 12
“[Camp Kesem is] the best thing going for her.”
– parent of camper, age 11
“[Camper] came back a person I didn’t know… a leader, full of self-confidence,
happy, outgoing… he was exactly the opposite [before camp].”
-- parent of camper, age 12
STUDENT QUOTES
"I have never learned more about leadership, organization and teamwork than I have
working on this project. I don't believe that many opportunities this huge and
influential exist on many campuses. I have confidence that I could take on most
anything after this experience."
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© 2004 Camp Kesem National. All Rights Reserved. Camp Kesem & the Camp Kesem logo are trademarks of Camp Kesem National.
Testimonials
"I don't consider it an exaggeration to say that Camp Kesem has improved my
leadership and team-building skills more than anything I've done in my life to this
point."
“Camp Kesem has easily been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life… The
smiles on the children’s faces, the laughter and the happiness I was lucky enough to
be a part of, and the looks of triumph on the faces of the older kids after they
conquered the ropes course will always stay with me.”
“Camp Kesem was definitely the best week of my life.”
"There is no other leadership position on campus that provides the level of exposure,
experience, and triumph that being a leader of the Camp Kesem project does."
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© 2004 Camp Kesem National. All Rights Reserved. Camp Kesem & the Camp Kesem logo are trademarks of Camp Kesem National.