Camp Kesem

Camp Kesem is an active community throughout the United States, driven by college students, supporting children through and beyond their parent's cancer with free year-round services. Camp Kesem's main program is a week-long sleepaway summer camp for kids whose parents have or have had cancer. Camp Kesem's programs are completely free to the children and put on by college students at each local chapter, who fundraise and plan year-round, with support and training from a national staff. Since 2000, when it was founded at Stanford University, Camp Kesem has expanded to over 100 chapters in 42 states. The University of Wisconsin-Madison chapter is currently the largest chapter.
History.
The first Camp Kesem project was founded at Stanford University in 2000 as a project of at Stanford, a nonprofit serving Jewish students at the University. The project was developed by founder Iris Rave Wedeking, and a group of student leaders who sought to create a summer camp experience for children in need for little to no cost for the families.
After assessing the needs of the community, the students found that children who have, or have had, a parent with cancer comprised an under-served population who could benefit from a summer camp experience with peers who faced similar challenges.
The Camp Kesem project at Stanford hosted its first summer session in June 2001, free of charge to 37 campers. Since then, the project has continued and has grown each year to engage more student volunteers and serve more children across the country.
Based on the success of Camp Kesem at Stanford, Iris Rave founded Camp Kesem National in August 2002 to share the project's model with college campuses across the nation.
National staff.
Alumni, Brand & Marketing:
Development:
Finance & Administration:
Operations:
Impact.
In 2014, Camp Kesem served nearly 4,000 children affected by a parent's cancer and empowered more than 2,000 student leaders from across the country. Since 2000, Camp Kesem has shared its "magic" with over 11,300 children and provided unparalleled leadership opportunities for nearly 7,000 student leaders.
Daily routine.
An average day at Camp Kesem consists of waking up, then going to breakfast. There are many events arranged for the children including, but not limited to: Messy Olympics, Color Wars, Fireworks Show, and many others. Often campers transition through rotations that can include arts and crafts, sports, or nature themed activities. Some camps have a yearly theme where each child may wear themed clothing to match the theme for the year. Each day is different, but most days have a trip to the swimming pool and a midday rest time. On one specific day, the campers share their stories about their parent's cancer. There is a "closing circle" activity where songs are sung, and some nights, the campers can socialize.