Visit our website at: http://campkesemillinois.weebly.com/
About Us
Our mission is two-fold:
- To provide kids whose parents have or have had cancer with a summer camp experience that gives them a chance to be kids
- To allow college students to channel their passion for making a difference, while developing critical leadership skills for long term social impact
Camp Kesem is…
A free, week-long overnight camp for kids whose parents have or have had cancer. Our mission is to provide a memorable, empowering camp experience that simply put, allow kids to be kids. It also provides an opportunity for campers to build self-esteem and gain support from peers facing similar challenges. At Camp Kesem, children are empowered with the tools to express their emotions through camp activities, such as arts and crafts, drama, and cabin chat. These tools, and the friendships gained provide support for these children well beyond the week of camp.
Brief History
For the past nine summers, Camp Kesem – a college-student-run summer camp for kids whose parents have (or have had) cancer – has provided plenty of laughs and lots of emotional but non-therapeutic support.
This week of sleep-away fun and friendships forged in a safe, compassionate and cancer-aware environment had its beginnings in 2000, when four Stanford University student leaders chose to change the lives of children in their northern California community.