Aqua
CIT Counselor
Camp Kesem at the Claremont Colleges provides a week long camp for children who have been affected by a parent's cancer.
The Claremont Colleges' chapter of Camp Kesem was founded in 2015. We started with just a few camp counselors and a fundraising goal of $10,000 to send 20 campers to camp. This year, we've grown to have 13 counselors, 12 coordinators who planned the camp, and we had 30 campers join us!
For our third year, we are hoping to send 36 campers to camp! We are also going to host a new fundraising event called "Make the Magic". This event is very similar to a charity gala - dinner, drinks, and a fun time will be provided!
By Glub
With the Camp Kesem at the Claremont Colleges ending its second fiscal year, we can proudly say our organization has made huge improvements with fundraising. We raised over 2x the amount we did our first year, meeting about 75% of our $30,000 goal!
Coordinators spend the entire year planning, fundraising, and advertising for camp!
The directors oversee a board of student coordinators, helping with planning and fundraising for camp.
Operations is responsible for camp planning including daily activity rotations, campsite selection, and all activities.
Develops strategic annual fundraising plan for Camp Kesem chapter which includes individual fundraising, Make the Magic events, on-campus fundraisers, grants, and corporate sponsorships.
Volunteer selects all volunteer counselors for the camp which includes interviewing students and teaching them about camp standards.
Outreach communicates to accepted camper families, handles all their necessary paperwork, and also plans family reunions.
Handles all expenses, reimbursements, and budget requests including revenue from fundraisers and donors.
Alumni, Marketing, and PR handles communications and advertising to chapter stakeholders including newsletters, blogs, websites, and social media.
We'd like to give a special shoutout to all the help the Advisory Board provided this past year! Each year Camp Kesem at the Claremont Colleges relies on our Advisory Board to help us recruit campers and volunteers, raise funds, serve as Kesem ambassadors in the local community. Our Advisory Board members work in fields including philanthropy, medicine, education, youth development, and business.
Sara Adler is a Professor of Italian Studies at Scripps College. Professor Adler is one of our chapter's major donors and has helped meet our fundraising goals!
Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert is an Associate Professor of Biology at Scripps College. We'd like to thank Professor Edwalds-Gilbert and Amy Marcus Newhall for visiting us at camp in August!
Amy Marcus Newhall is a Professor of Psychology and Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty at Scripps College. We'd like to thank Professor Edwalds-Gilbert and Amy Marcus Newhall for visiting us at camp in August!
Stevella Lopez has supported our chapter for two years. She and her family have helped staff Kesem sponsored events in the Claremont area throughout the year.
Hayley Burke volunteered as our Mental Health Professional at our chapter's first camp. She's continued helping us by fundraising and spreading Kesem across the Claremont Colleges.
Recapping on the highlights of our week long camp!
Pogo planned activities that kept the campers excited all week long!
By Stitch
This year, we had four different kinds of activities: Sports, Arts and Crafts, Cooking and Science, and Acting. Since our week's theme was spy camp, a lot of our activities were spy-themed. For example, we crafted face masks to match our spy and superhero personalities, and we did a fingerprint dusting activity!
Here were some of the activities each day that campers loved!
Sunday
Campers arrived at Camp Eaton around 2pm on Sunday and unpacked their belongings in the cabin. At night time, we had an activity called Super Chef where campers made funny and weird food for counselors.
Monday
A highlight for many campers was the olympic sized swimming pool on Monday! The water was a little chilly, but that didn't stop campers from having a blast.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, the older campers had a chance to try the camp's zipline! Campers then split into teams to play a human charades game. Afterwards, campers went outside to see who could soak their counselor with a wet sponge the most!
Wednesday
On Wednesday, the campers split into 3 separate teams for a water infused frenzy of games! Activites included a water relay and capture the wet sponge! Before dinner, we held our Empowerment Ceremony. At night time, we held a music filled dance party where campers showed the counselors some great moves!
Thursday
The rain couldn't keep us away and we were able to have Messy Wars - one of the highlights of the week for many campers! The campers and counselors alike love Messy Wars, even though nobody likes cleaning up. Messy Wars is a great way for everyone to let loose and let their artistic side out. We were able to play paint tag, throw colored Holi powder and sundae our camp admin team! Some of the campers ended up getting much more messy than our counselors and staff but we all hosed them down before continuing with the rest of our day.
Friday
Before we said good-bye, each cabin gave their campers their paper plate awards. These awards were special recognitions given to each camper for their time at camp! Afterwards, we had a final camp activity called the Web of Kindness!
Cabins were split by age and gender. Each cabin had 2-3 counselors as well.
We had 13 counselors, and 5 admin! Meet them all and read about some of their experiences!
We had 1 camp advisor, 1 regional director, 1 photographer, and 3 professional staff! Camp couldn't have happened without them!
Read about how Camp Kesem at the Claremont Colleges impacted the lives of our counselors!
By Panda
Driving along the windy mountains roads while the sun is its peak evokes a certain picturesque imagery. You and your friends casting your cares to the wind, sailing down the highway while the summer’s top 40 playlist is going. Definitely a very innocent, happy montage moment in your cheesy 80s movie.
By Beemo
My experience with the CIT’s this year was one of the most memorable camp experience I have ever had. I was able to see these kids grow just being campers to almost full counselors. I was in shock by the amount of work that these kids were putting in!
My experience with the CIT’s this year was one of the most memorable camp experience I have ever had. I was able to see these kids grow just being campers to almost full counselors. I was in shock by the amount of work that these kids were putting in!
What sets Kesem apart from other camps.
Empowerment is a chance for our campers to talk about why they’re at camp. This gives the campers time to share their stories about their families and how cancer has affected their lives. These stories bring everyone closer together and help campers realize they’re not alone, despite what they may think. Camp Kesem empowers our campers throughout the week with smaller, nightly cabin chats in addition to the empowerment ceremony.
Cabins hold a cabin chat each night where campers get a chance to debrief about the day. Counselors and Unit Leaders lead cabin chats with guided questions ranging from questions like "If you had three wishes, what would they be?", "Where do you go when you're sad", and "If cancer walked through the door right now, what would you do or say to it?" This is a time for reflection and campers are invited to each share their answers and feelings without interruption. As each camper shares, we strive to make them feel respected and comfortable opening up to their new friends and counselors, even when the questions get harder to answer.
Empowerment Ceremony happens on Wednesday. The event first started off with campers and counselors participating in a Cross-The-Line activity which involves participants moving to the other side of a line depending on the answer to a Yes or No question. For example: have you made a new friend this week? As the questions continue, they become more personal and serious. Although during this activity participants may feel vulnerable and nervous that someone may not cross the line with them, it reminds all the campers that their experiences, though very different, are shared among the new friends they've made at camp. It helps them to feel more connected and remember that they're not alone.
Camp Kesem at the Claremont Colleges was extremely lucky to have an amazing camp for the second year in a row. But without the help of individual donations, hard-working volunteers, and solid leadership, we would not be where we are today. We'd like to take this time to thank Elmo, for taking fantastic photos and videos for our chapter, Sunny, for being an amazingly supportive camp advisor, and Sunshine, for guiding our chapter in the best direction possible. Everyone involved in our chapter will make our organization grow and help us impact more lives! However, the job is never finished. We've already started preparing for the next year, and we'll need all the help we can get.
- Camp Kesem at the Claremont Colleges 2016 - 2017
