camp kesem at stanford 2013 legacy newsletter

Make the Magic

Legacy Newsletter APRIL|2013

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Camp Kesem at Stanford’s

first annual benefit dinner and silent auction

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On Sunday, December 2nd, Camp Kesem at Stanford hosted its first annual “Make the Magic” dinner and silent auction to raise money for Camp 2013. 150 guests gathered at Stanford’s Hillel House, which was decorated with white Christmas lights and Kesem-themed blue and green tablecloths. Guests included camper families, supporters, and alumni counselors. Current counselors attended as volunteers and helped set up and clean up, checked in guests, served as auction managers, and helped serve the meal. The Stanford Coffee House, or “CoHo,” generously donated a delicious Mediterranean feast that was enjoyed by all.

During dinner, four speakers addressed the community. Keynote speaker Dr. Beverly Mitchell, Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute, spoke about the current state of cancer research. She emphasized that while dedicated researchers work around the clock, there is so much more to be done in the field. She commented on the importance of community and a sense of support during the treatment process, which she feels cannot be overstated.

First Annual “Make the Magic” Kesem (n.): magic

The ability to

change a life; an

agent of growth; the

unique power that

transforms kids into

Camp Kesem

Campers.

IN THIS ISSUE:

First annual “Make the Magic”

1-2

Kesem in the news

Recent events

3

Recent events on campus

4

6

OLP Updates

Join the Counselor Alumni Fundraising Team

Alumni Interview: Tiny

5

7 7

7 7

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Lorem Ipsum Issue | Date

Following Dr. Mitchell, parent Zeina Daoud shared her family’s Camp Kesem story. Following her husband’s death, she said her children found comfort and solidarity in Kesem. She also elaborated on the incredible amount of individual care and attention her children received from their counselors, especially if they were acting out or having behavioral issues due to the difficult times their family was going through. Next, graduated Gold Unit camper Michelle Zhang spoke of her initial apprehension about attending a “cancer camp” and went on to describe how Camp Kesem has helped her grow and achieve what she views as a personal transformation.

To end the night, current Programming Coordinator Sam “Sharky” Finlayson spoke of his sister’s illness and how it taught him to treasure small moments with family and gave him the ability to empathize with campers as they navigate their own journeys with family illness.

By the end of the night, participants raised $10,000 for Camp Kesem at Stanford, which is enough to send ten campers to Camp this summer! In the future, we expect this annual event to comprise a significant portion of our fundraising efforts. Please join us at Make the Magic 2013 so that we can continue to celebrate this community!

REFLECTIONS ON A

MAGICAL NIGHT “Planning Make the Magic reminded me once again that community is the magic of Kesem. There was tremendous support throughout the planning process. Alumni and advisory committee members formed the Make the Magic planning committee, and they worked tirelessly to make our first event a success. Friends and Camp Kesem families donated auction items and gifts in-kind. Hillel at Stanford staff and Camp Kesem National staff were happy to hear our ideas and give us feedback, and Hillel donated the use of their building. Camp Kesem counselors and friends served the meal, and the CoHo catered the meal at a reduced cost, thanks to the generosity of their owner (and one of our greatest supporters), Ray Klein. And of course, we were surprised and thrilled at the number of people who showed their support by attending the event. I am so grateful that our community came together to share this magical evening, and we are all excited to host the event again next year.” -Heather “Autumn” Paul, Camp Kesem at Stanford Director


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An Interview with CK Alum Tiny

Jessica Yu, or "Tiny", graduated from Stanford in 2008 and was involved with Camp Kesem at Stanford during her undergraduate years. We had the opportunity to talk with her about her Kesem memories, and about how her experience with Camp influenced her current and future plans.

CK: How long were you involved in Kesem, and what roles did you play? Tiny: "Four years. I started in Green Unit my freshmen year. Durign my sophomore year I was "Admin Coordinator" and then I served as Co-Chair for my two remaining years at Stanford."

CK: What are some favorite memories from camp? Tiny: "There are a lot of really great memories that I have about camp. I think my first year what I loved about camp-- one of the most touching aspects-- was how much the counselors themselves really bonded with each other and were there to support each other. My camp name was actually "Tiny Dancer", after the Elton John song. It got shortened to "Tiny" pretty quickly. One of my favorite memories with Green Unit was the green unit male counselors; every time they saw me, they would bust out, 'Hold me closer, Tiny Dancer…' Camp is a crazy experience, so in the midst of the adolescent hormones and the drama it was nice

to get this increase in support and warm fuzzies and feel that bond. During my second year, we chose a Harry Potter theme. We had a lot of fun with the theme and decided to play Quiddich for one of the evening activities. We tried to do it as described in the books, but having kids with broomsticks and different sized balls was pretty chaotic. Everybody had so much fun-- it was just a really great time."

CK: What are you up to now? Has Kesem influenced your future plans? Tiny: "I am a PhD student in clinical psychology now, way out on the East Coast. Kesem definitely influenced my plans. My experienced with Kesem was really meaningful in the sense that I knew I wanted to be in the clinical and helping position. I thought I wanted to be in the rigid medical field, but what I realized is I am so attuned to meaningful, one-on-one connections and relationships-- helping people through their problems. Clinical psychology is even more geared than medicine towards the amelioration of human problems and that one-on-one connection. And so I switched not too long after Kesem from pre-med to clinical psychology. I really do think back on that experience. It is something that has helped me to develop as an individual and in my future profession."

memories: Camp Kesem 2012

APRIL|2013 Legacy Newsletter

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In November, Rainbow Unit travelled to Michigan for the 6th annual Camp Kesem National Leadership Summit. Since the first Camp Kesem was held at Stanford in 2001, Camp Kesem has spread across the nation and is now flourishing at 41 different college campuses in 22 states. While just 35 campers attended Stanford’s first Camp in 2001, over 2,100 children across the country participated in 2012. With this enormous growth and success, Camp Kesem National hosts an annual Leadership Summit to bring together the student coordinators from each campus for a weekend of leadership development, idea sharing, networking, singing, and fun.

Seven Stanford coordinators made the trek to the Summit this year, and the trip was full of adventures. Highlights included performing New Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” with UC Davis and University of Georgia, eating lunch with the original CK founders, leading songs around the campfire until much too late into the night, and celebrating Boggle’s birthday in the Detroit airport at a Mexican restaurant.

In addition to all the fun and games our coordinators also developed their leadership skills and brainstormed best practices by attending a series of

Workshop topics spanned everything from behavior management and grief coping to social media use and development of counselor-in-training programs.

While some campuses are brand new and were gathering tips for running their very first camp, Stanford was able to provide advice to new campuses and also gather wisdom from other established campuses on topics like running our first annual Make the Magic and developing our teen programming.

One of the best parts of the trip was realizing that thousands of people across the country are as passionate about Camp Kesem as we are. A family panel of campers and parents came to speak one night at the Summit, and it was incredibly moving to see that the powerful impact Stanford’s chapter has had on its families is also being spread rapidly to so many more families around the country.

Michigan was definitely a bit chillier than our usual Bay Area sunshine, but we managed to survive the cold. The weekend was great success, and we can’t wait to attend next year’s Summit!

Kesem National Conference


Rainbow 2013:

Heather “Autumn” Paul Camp Director

Leah “Sparkle” Demetri

Co Chair

Julie “Squish” Koenig Co Chair

Sam “Sharky” Finlayson

Programming

Annie “Quaffle” Smartt Family Relations

Emily “Boggle” Mann Counselor Coordinator

Ben “Trick” McKenzie

Counselor Coordinator

Zack “Zeebo” Bonzell Private Donations

Thuy “Tweeze” Nguyen Foundations Fundraising

Carolyn “Calico” Rennels

Community Relations

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new faces: 33 counselors selected +

Michael Claeys, a senior communications manager at the Stanford Cancer Institute, recently published two articles about Camp Kesem. The first was published in the official Stanford Medical Center newsletter “Inside Stanford Medicine.” The article gives an overview of Camp, tracing Kesem from its original roots to its current success. Also featured in the article are Co-Chair Julie “Squish” Koenig and counselor Beckie “Luna” Yanovsky. Clayes spoke of how both counselors’ involvement with Kesem reflects their professional aspirations to become physicians.

Clays also wrote about Camp Kesem in the Stanford Cancer Institute’s winter newsletter and featured an interview with Camp Director Heather “Autumn” Paul. Thank you Mr. Claeys!

Check out the articles here: http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2013/february/kesem-0225.html

http://cancer.stanford.edu/research/documents/scinewswinter2013.pdf

Counselor Casey “Roo” Khademi created a beautiful video about Camp Kesem that was published in both the Peninsula Press and the SF Gate. Khademi also wrote a short article to go along with the video.

Khademi explains her inspiration for the video:

“When the opportunity arose to create a video for a class about something that inspired us, I immediately thought of Kesem and pitched the story idea to my professor. She loved the concept of creating a news piece around such a unique camp. I've seen Camp Kesem create a magical experience for everyone involved. Making this video was a little way for me to share the beauty of it with people who may never get a chance to be involved with that magic firsthand.”

Thank you for your beautiful work, Roo!

Check out Roo’s article and video here: http://peninsulapress.com/2013/02/20/coping-through-camping-stanford-students-host-camp-for-kids-with-cancer-in-the-family-video/

Following a multi-month selection process, 33 new counselors have been selected for Camp Kesem at Stanford 2013! 97 students submitted applications.

Co-Counselor Coordinator Ben “Trick” McKenzie comments on the selection process: “Our new counselors have already expressed so much compassion for the campers and enthusiasm for our community, and they haven’t even met everyone at training yet!! Unfortunately, we had to turn away applicants who were extremely qualified due to the number of spots and roles we needed filled. I’m really excited to welcome each and every one of the new counselors to our Kesem family and can’t wait to see how they give back to our campers!”

New counselors mingled with veterans at our recent event with Stanford’s Treehouse restaurant, during which the Treehouse generously donated 30% of its profits to Camp Kesem at Stanford. Meeting your new family over burritos… what could be better?

Kesem in the News

Winter Newsletter MARCH|2013

6


On January 31st, Kesemites gathered at the Stanford Coffee House, or “CoHo,” to watch Kesem counselors perform musical acts and comedy improvisation. The purpose of the night was twofold: to provide an opportunity for counselors to gather and catch up, and to raise awareness of Camp Kesem in the larger Stanford community.

Counselor Co-Coordinator Emily “Boggle” Mann says of the event, “It was incredible to see so many talented counselors perform and to be surrounded by such a supportive community. You could feel the love radiating in the room.”

We look forward to hosting a similar event in the future!

Challah for Hunger, a nonprofit organization associated with Hillel at Stanford, bakes and sells challah bread to raise money for American Jewish World Service Darfur Relief and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara County. They generously donate part of their proceeds to Camp Kesem at Stanford when we volunteer to help with one of their weekly bakes.

Once per quarter, Kesem counselors gather to bake loaves of challah bread, which are then sold to the Stanford community. The most recent bake was exciting because it included recently hired Kesem counselors.

Events on Campus

co-ho night: singing, improvisation, and fun +

COUNSELOR PERFORMERS:

Ben “Trick” McKenzie

Amy “Cub” Ransohoff

Emily “Boggle” Mann

Kari “Tambourine” Giberson

Annie “Kiwilu” Scalmanini

Emily “Jingle” Kizzia

Jeremy “Pongo” Kim

Jon “Flint” Proctor

Mona “Cheerio” Thompson

Brittany “Tex” Beavers

challah for hunger: +


breadmaking fundraiser

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SAVE THE DATE May 5

Spring Reunion Hillel at Stanford

June 17-23 Camp Kesem 2013 YMCA Camp Loma Mar

June 22 Visitor’s Day YMCA Camp Loma Mar


When our oldest campers arrive at Loma Mar this June, a re-vamped Outdoor Leadership Program (OLP) will greet them. The purpose of this restructuring is to give Gold and Silver Unit campers lifelong leadership and team-building skills through group activities and discussions. Furthermore, campers will have the opportunity to practice these skills in a tangible way during the week of camp by taking on a self-determined leadership role OLP Coordinator Owen “Goose” Falk speaks about

the changes he has been working on throughout the year: “OLP has been one of the most dynamic components of Camp Kesem since it's origin, and it is continuing to adapt this year. Overall, OLP is trending towards a heavier leadership programming component. One of the largest changes in Silver Unit is that the campers will participate in a camp cleanup service-learning project. For this activity, Silver campers will spend an entire day practicing service leadership by giving back to camp in a tangible way. Throughout the week of camp, Silver campers will also learn about a wide variety of leadership styles, participate in team-building and trust activities, and discuss what being a leader means to them, In Gold Unit, campers will be leading rotations for younger campers and participating in Cabin Chats with younger Units; importantly, there will be ample, structured time for Gold campers to debrief these experiences so they can process the leadership and mentorship skills they have been practicing. Gold campers will also be teaching trail skills to their peers during the backpacking trip, and the purpose of this activity is to help Gold campers truly take ownership over their outdoor experience. We are excited to see the new OLP in action this summer!

OLP Revamp

As you may remember, Camp Kesem is provided free of charge to our campers. Each year we fundraise through grant writing, reaching out to family and friends, and doing other small fundraisers. As you can see on the chart to the left, private donations comprise the majority of our annual funds. This year we have not yet reached our fundraising goals, and we will welcome the largest number of campers ever to Loma Mar in June. We are working hard to make these campers' experiences magical, with new programs such as the revamped OLP.

We hope that you look back on your fond memories of Camp Kesem, and remember both the way it influenced your personal growth as well as the impact camp had on the kids you worked with. Wherever you might be in your life, we hope that you will consider supporting your Kesem family.

+ join our fundraising team

This year, we are hoping to reach 85% alumni participation. Help us reach that goal by visiting our alumni giving page today: http://tinyurl.com/kesemalums.

camp kesem at stanford 2013 legacy newsletter

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