Camp Kesem was founded at Stanford University in 2000 with one goal in mind - to give children who have been impacted by a parent's cancer the help, support, fun, and love that they need. Since then, Camp Kesem has expanded to a total of 116 chapters across 42 states in the U.S.
This group stands as a community across the nation that is driven by passionate college students at various colleges and universities in the 42 states. The summer camp serves children from the ages of 6-18 who have lost a parent to cancer, have a parent undergoing cancer treatment, or whose parent is a cancer survivor. Surprisingly, this small age group encompasses about 5 million children in the United States.
The beauty of this camp is that these children experience a loving, inclusive environment with other children their age who have similar life experiences. The camp also is designed to help provide these children with key life skills including, but not limited to, confidence building, communication skills, and an enhanced outlook and attitude on life. Through sponsorships, donors, and fundraising events, this camp is able to provide a magical five night camp experience for numerous of children across the U.S. for free, with no cost to children or families. To find out more information or to donate, visit the Camp Kesem website by clicking here.
Recently, Camp Kesem announced that Mississippi State will host a new chapter on campus this fall. Camp Kesem recently had a "Chapter Expansion Campaign," and the public could vote among 12 finalists to select new chapter locations in order to grow the organization. MSU led with over 7,100 votes when the voting closed on February 1, 2019. The organization also announced that four other colleges and universities would be housing new chapters including Auburn, Denison, Miami, and Montana State. Mississippi State will offer its first camp in the summer of 2020. For more information about the camp coming to MSU, visit this website.
