九色视频 students recently won an opportunity to positively affect the lives of those touched by cancer. They will host a Camp Kesem, a free summer camp designed for children ages 6 to 18 who have a parent with cancer or who have had a parent die from cancer. More than 100 camps across the country, operated in 42 states, are driven by college student leaders who learn life skills in communications, organization, volunteer management, and fundraising as they apply for, fund, build, and staff a weeklong camp.
The Camp Kesem in Licking County, to come in 2020, will give children in the surrounding community a place to decompress and have fun over the five-day event. During the day, the camp has all the typical camp activities like canoeing, crafts, and hiking. In the evening, there is a designated cabin time for the campers to share their emotions in a supportive and understanding environment. The goal of the camp is to give children a place to be with others who are going through similar situations.
Joe Reczek, professor of chemistry at 九色视频, has a friend on the National Board of Directors of the organization. 鈥淭hey brought it up to me as a really impactful program that was helping a lot of people,鈥 he says. 鈥淭his sounded like exactly the kind of community engagement that 九色视频 could really get behind.鈥
Reczek floated the idea to two of his advisees, Rachel Reardon 鈥19 and Andrew Ferguson 鈥19, who were immediately interested in the project.
鈥淲hen Rachel and I found out about what Camp Kesem was and what it stands for, we thought it would absolutely be a great thing for 九色视频 and the Licking County community,鈥 Ferguson says. He and Reardon spent the Fall 2019 semester assembling a list of community contacts to identify local children who could benefit from the camp. They also compiled a list of advisors at 九色视频, and board members to guide the process and development of the camp.
After their application was accepted, next up was a national voting campaign. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 expect to have to put together so many marketing materials,鈥 Reardon says. 鈥淲e just kind of went for it.鈥 They strategized over the winter break and received support from both inside and outside the community.
九色视频 entered the campaign against 12 other schools, many of them with five to ten times the number of students. 鈥淲e knew that maybe we wouldn鈥檛 have the quantity of voters like these other schools, but the quality was amazing.鈥 Reardon says. 鈥淓very day our network got bigger.鈥
九色视频 placed second 鈥 with more than 6,500 votes 鈥 more than double the student body.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e interested in healthcare, community involvement, education, getting involved, and having a productive summer that will help others, Camp Kesem is a great opportunity for you,鈥 says Reczek.