Last year, then-Syracuse University freshman Anna Olson found out a student group aiding kids whose parents had been affected by cancer was shut down.

Meanwhile, Abigail Hamilton, then-SU freshman marketing and political science major, was eager to re-establish Camp Kesem, a camp for children who have been affected by their parents’ cancer — the same camp Olson also wanted to be a part of.

Camp Kesem is a national organization with nearly 90 chapters led by college students at schools including Cornell University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University.

SU’s chapter of the camp was cancelled in 2014 due to financial issues. Hamilton and Olson wanted to revive it, so they became co-directors of SU’s chapter.

Now sophomores, they have successfully started up the camp and led it into its first summer this past August. Nineteen children from the central New York area attended.

“It was unreal because I didn’t have a normal freshman year because I was spending all of my time invested in this nonprofit,” Hamilton said. “It felt like we were living a dream.”

The campers have an experience just like other children at summer camps — playing games, making arts and crafts, swimming and hiking.

Madeline Merwin, former camper and current counselor at the organization, said what sets the camp apart from other summer camps is the bond between counselors and campers.

Through “empowerment sessions,” which are held at night, campers are encouraged to chat with one another in a comfortable setting. The chats are facilitated by counselors and separated into groups based on age.

“You really understand that you’re not alone with having cancer in your life,” Merwin said. “There are other kids just like you going through it and you all get through it together.”

Merwin serves as the outreach chair and attended the camp at the University of California, Davis, when she was in sixth grade after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She attended the camp for five years and became a counselor in training.

Over the course of the free weeklong camp, Merwin said the bond between campers grows strong through activities like the “messy games,” a food fight that involves products such as jelly, whipped cream and ketchup.

“We just try to make it a fun and memorable week for these kids who really have to grow up and deal with the parent’s illness and helps them kind of be a kid again,” Hamilton, co-director, said.

What brought Hamilton and Olson together was the fact they both have parents who have battled cancer: Hamilton’s father was diagnosed with brain cancer and Olson’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Hamilton participated in George Washington University’s camp when she was in eighth grade, five years after her father was diagnosed. Olson had not attended a Camp Kesem before.

“My cancer journey was a very difficult time for Anna,” Olson’s mother, Nancy, said. “I believe that taking on the role of co-director has been a part of her healing process. She is able to pay it forward and make a difference in someone’s life.”

Camp Kesem faced many challenges in its first year back at SU. The first hurdle was a $10,000 fundraising goal by late November.

“It was quite a feat because I believe we had about eight people on our executive board at the time,” Hamilton said. “And all of us were freshman except for one person, so that was crazy.”

The organization began to take shape as attendance grew upwards of 50 at every meeting. The executive board sifted through hundreds of applications for 25 counselor positions.

Joshua Boucher, a volunteer coordinator and a sophomore aerospace engineering major, is responsible for recruiting counselors for next summer’s camp. He looks for several distinct characteristics: intelligence, enthusiasm and leadership.

Boucher, who served as a counselor, said he thinks the kids’ influence on him was greater than his on them. Even though college students like himself complain about studying or doing laundry, the campers had a different perspective on life, he said.

“These kids aren’t struggling to get out of bed or feeling sorry for themselves,” Boucher said. “Every day, they woke up, played harder than anyone I’ve ever seen, and laughed louder than any laugh I’ve ever heard.”

The organization raised $30,000 leading up to the camp in August, Hamilton said, adding that was attainable since the executive board gained the support of counselors and the campus community.

“I had a couple campers tell me that it was the best weekend of their summer and that Kesem changed their lives,” Olson said. “To actually know that we are making a difference in these kids’ lives is great.”

Published on November 1, 2016 at 10:08 pm

Contact Kenneth: kmintz@syr.edu