Camp Kesem is an active community throughout the United States, driven by college students, supporting children through and after their parent's cancer. Camp Kesem's main focus is putting on a summer camp for kids whose parents have or have had cancer. The camp is completely free to the children and put on solely by the college students that double as counselors, programming staff, and administration staff. Since 2000, when it was founded at Stanford University, Camp Kesem has expanded to over 100 active chapters. The current largest chapter of the organization is Camp Kesem at the University of Michigan.
Video Camp Kesem
History
The first Camp Kesem project was founded at Stanford University in 2000 as a project of Hillel 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.
Maps Camp Kesem
National Staff
- Jane Saccaro, Chief Executive Officer (Camp Name "Pocket")
- Jim Higley, Chief Brand Officer (Camp Name "Pops")
- Jess Ryan, Director of Alumni Relations (Camp Name "Honey")
- Kim Porter, Marketing Coordinator (Camp Name "Diggz")
- Maureen Haller, Chief Development Officer (Camp Name "Motown")
- Colleen Geary, Development Director of Events (Camp Name "Gator")
- Cristin O'Leary Jones, Development Director (Camp Name "Babalu")
- Kristin Elfering, Executive Coordinator (Camp Name "Crush")
- Rebecca Enriquez, Development Coordinator (Camp Name "Mini")
- Bree Turner, Development Associate (Camp Name "Cheddar")
- Abby O'Leary, Director of Finance & Administration (Camp Name "Cadillac")
- Fanny Wilson, Finance & Accounting Manager (Camp Name "Magee")
- Kelsey Wrightwood, Special Projects Coordinator (Camp Name "Fizz")
- Alicia Kabir, Chief Operations Officer (Camp Name "ML")
- Alexandra Baldwin, Senior Manager of Camp Operations (Camp Name "Lola")
- Liz Firestone, Senior Manager of Programs (Camp Name "Phishy")
- Tracey Landstorm, Senior Manager of Operations (Camp Name "Pebbles")
- Marge Lobeck, Manager of Programs (Camp Name "Mama")
- Laura Redmond, Manager of Operations (Camp Name "Giggles")
- Jenna Means, Operations Director - University Liaison (Camp Name "Goose")
- Cody Ferratino, Senior Program Director (Camp Name "Mufasa")
- Ciara Lepanto, Senior Program Director (Camp Name "Wishbone")
- Keandra Bryson, Program Director (Camp Name "Jade")
- Lily Daigle, Program Director (Camp Name "Dily")
- Brittani Hammer, Program Director (Camp Name "Gingersnap")
- Kendall McKee, Program Director (Camp Name "Fizz")
- Annalisa Provenzano, Program Director (Camp Name "Ducky")
- Jean-Luc Rivera, Program Director (Camp Name "Tuba")
- Zach Snelling, Program Director (Camp Name "Dwayne")
- Abi Yates, Program Director (Camp Name "Kitty")
- Stacey Yi, Program Director (Camp Name "Sunshine)
Board of Directors
- Bob Bartell
- Neha Biggs
- John K. Bradburn Jr.
- Emily M. Brakebill
- Thom Brown
- Ben Cornwell
- David Cronin
- Becky Crowe
- Keith Dierkx
- Ron Glickman
- Jerry Katz
- Darren Macioce
- Betsy Morton
- Mark Luck Olson
- Robert Plotkowski
- Carlyn Solomon
- Jay Stillwell
- Sudarsan Thattai
- Iris Rave Wedeking
Collegiate Chapters
- University of Alabama
- Arizona State University
- University of Arkansas
- Augustana College
- Ball State University
- UC Berkeley
- Brown University
- BYU
- California State University, Northridge
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Case Western Reserve University
- Central PA
- Chestnut Hill
- University of Cincinnati
- The Claremont Colleges
- University of Colorado Boulder
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Dartmouth College
- DePaul University
- Duke University
- Emory University
- Florida State University
- The University of Florida
- Fresno State
- George Washington University
- The University of Georgia
- Harvard University
- University of Illinois
- Indiana University
- University of Iowa
- James Madison University
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Kansas
- University of Kentucky
- Marquette University
- Miami
- Michigan State University
- The University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- Mizzou
- MIT
- University of Nebraska
- New Mexico State University
- UNC - Chapel Hill
- North Carolina State University
- Northern Arizona University
- Northern Illinois University
- Northwestern University
- Notre Dame
- The Ohio State University
- University of Oklahoma
- University of Oregon
- University of Pennsylvania
- Princeton
- Rice
- University of Richmond
- Rowan University
- Saint Louis University
- Santa Clara University
- The University of South Alabama
- Southern Utah University
- Stanford
- Stony Brook University
- Syracuse University
- Teton Valley
- Texas A&M University
- University of Texas - Austin
- University of Texas - Dallas
- UC Davis
- UC Irvine
- UCLA
- UC San Diego
- UC Santa Barbara
- UC Santa Cruz
- University of Southern California
- Vanderbilt University
- University of Vermont
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- The University of Virginia
- University of Washington
- West Virginia University
- University of Wisconsin - Madison
- William & Mary
- Yale University
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.
- 98 percent of parents surveyed believe that Camp Kesem has had a positive impact on their family .
- After camp, parents report a marked increase in their child's self-esteem, confidence and network of support.
- 99 percent of parents surveyed would recommend Camp Kesem to another family affected by cancer.
A Day at Camp Kesem
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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