Across 41 states and 115 chapters nationwide, Camp Kesem provides “Kesem Magic” to over 7,000 children aged 6 to 18 whose parents are battling cancer. Camp Kesem helps kids feel loved, seen and understood, reminding them that they aren’t alone through their challenges at a young age.
According to Kesem’s website, more than 5 million children in the United States are impacted by a parent’s cancer, a reality that can increase mental health struggles at a young age. Established in 2000, Kesem’s mission is to provide children with a supportive environment, stability and belonging, as well as a community that wraps around them during the challenging battles they face, through friendship and love.
Through their summer camp, day programs and virtual meetings that connect youth and adolescents who are affected by a parent’s cancer, Kesem ensures that its services remain completely free. It’s the lifelong connections beyond the campgrounds that keep campers and counselors tied to the Kesem community for years, and many alumni return to reconnect through events and beyond.
Despite Augustana having its own chapter, the college welcomes counselors from different college campuses. One of those counselors is AJ Seynaeve, a senior at Western Illinois University and the chapter’s Operations Coordinator.
When he first attended camp in 2019 as a camper, he attended through the Augustana chapter. After experiencing camp’s impact, Seynaeve said he couldn’t help but get involved in the organization that had a direct impact on him, so returning in a leadership role became an easy choice.
“When I first started camp in 2019, all I knew at the end of the week was that I wanted to come back next year,” Seynaeve said. “I wanted to continue to be a camper just throughout high school. But then 2022 was my last year as a camper, and I knew I wanted to come back as a counselor.”.
Other members involved may not have faced the same challenges growing up, but still feel inclined to make a difference in these kids’ lives.
Junior Melanie Lopez, director of Kesem Augustana, said she discovered the organization through her friend and Augie alum. Lopez initially began her role on the administrative team before applying for her role as director in Dec. 2024.
Beyond hearing about Kesem through her friend, Lopez said she was intrigued by a great leadership opportunity that would build skills and help her in her future career goals. Although the biggest impact is on the children and their parents, witnessing it also has an impact on the counselors.
“It’s the impact that I see we have on these families and children … seeing how happy these kids are to be [at Camp Kesem], and even how sad they’re leaving, and they want to come back immediately,” Lopez said.
Kesem’s reach extends well beyond camp week. Throughout the year, events like the Gala and Friends and Family Day, where past, current and future campers and counselors come together, help maintain those long-standing bonds.
Lopez said that members of Kesem recently spent time together with the campers at Niabi Zoo, which continues their sense of community and peer support outside of the camp environment. But there is also more to the story.
“We send them birthday cards to make sure that we’re still thinking about them [and] our warm welcome packages. And unfortunately, when a parent passes away … we send them a package and everything, just to make sure we still provide that support in any way possible,” Lopez said.
Despite the heavy burdens the kids carry, Kesem gives them a space to step away from those realities. Counselors and campers get to choose their own nicknames, as Seynaeve did on the bus ride to camp in 2019, which helps them feel themselves in an environment built on acceptance and community.
A popular tradition among Kesem is friendship bracelet making. This activity has also become a staple of Chi Alpha Pi (CAP) sorority’s pre-rush event. CAP hosts the event every year to support Kesem’s mission.
This year, the pre-rush event was held on Nov. 13 in the Gälve Rooms. Junior Rhiannon Allison, rush chair for CAP, said a total of 82 friendship bracelets were made, thanks to the help of attendees and sorority members.
“I think it has a lot of impact on our group … every year we get positive feedback about it and we use this opportunity to also help someone else. I think that’s very reflective of who we are,” Allison said.
Planning an event certainly isn’t easy. Just like a friendship bracelet, every detail must be carefully woven together.
“Honestly, it means the world to all of [CAP]. I know that we’ve been planning this for weeks, and just to know that we’re making an impact through friendship bracelet making, so that these kids feel loved and appreciated, they know that people are for them,” Sutton Gaines, fellow junior and rush chair for CAP said.
Loyalty and friendship are the heart of CAP. Because Kesem carries the same values, their collaboration intertwines so well. This service event also showcases the CAP’s need for awareness about Kesem.
“The main goal is just exposure [for] what [CAP] stands for, and also exposure for Camp Kesem because I really would like to help increase their membership as well … [I]t directly reflects a lot of what CAP stands for,” Gaines said.
This year at the CAP and Kesem collaboration, Kesem’s coordinators spoke about their mission for the first time. Several potential future members of CAP approached Lopez at the event because of their interest in getting involved or supporting Kesem.
Seeing the impact firsthand is a rewarding experience. However, the moments that are unseen are what motivate CAP to participate in this annual event beyond the service hours.
“It’s so impactful, and it means a lot to everyone to be able to help these kids … even if we never actually see them,” Allison said. “It’s still something that holds so much meaning [and] our sorority really enjoys doing every year.”
Outside of the pre-rush event, both organizations are collaborating with Delta Omega Nu (DON) fraternity to host a bake sale in support of Giving Tuesday, a generosity movement that takes place the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, encouraging people to give back through donations, running Dec. 1-5 in The Brew.
Through efforts like this, Seynaeve said that Giving Tuesday is the single day that receives the most amount of donations for Kesem, which provides free programs, for the past 25 years of their organization.
“Camp [is] still the single week I look forward to the most during summer. It is, by far, one of my best weeks through the entire year. And, just as when I was a camper, I’m more myself when I am at camp, surrounded by all that Kesem love and magic,” Seynaeve said.
During the Camp Kesem week, campers get the opportunity to speak about their challenges with a parent’s cancer at the Empowerment Ceremony they host halfway through the week, which is Seynaev’s favorite part of the camp week and helps kids open up more throughout the week, a full-circle moment reminding them why they are at Kesem.
“You can really separate yourself from what’s going on at home, and camp is a whole other thing … [where they] just focus on themselves, really,” Lopez said.
With year-round support that meets kids where they’re at, “Kesem magic” continues to shine as a clear and continuous theme. In times when kids might feel like no one can relate, or feel that they cannot be themselves when times are tough, there is a dire need for Kesem magic.
“Kesem magic, to me, is knowing that you have a community of people who have gone through or are currently experiencing the exact same thing that you have or are going through right now, and it’s just a blanket understanding that, you know, no matter what, we’re all in this together,” Seynaeve said.
