Camp Kesem

Camp Kesem is a university-based summer camp where college students fundraise and host camps, free of charge, for children with a parent who has, or has had cancer. The program began at Stanford University in 2001 with37 children affected by cancer attending. Camp Kesem has since grown through replication to 41 additional universities hosting camps from Los Angeles to Boston serving over 1,200 children a year.

Through the 2013 Community Impact Project the LIVESTRONG Foundation will fund the replication of this program at twelve universities with seed funding of $10,000 per campus to begin the program. Initial trainings and communication will begin in the summer of 2013 with the award period covering the next 18 months; the camps funded through this cycle would take place in the summer of 2014. This program is entirely student run and requires the input and work from a broad group of students as well as the university itself to succeed. Students implementing the program would be responsible for additional fundraising for the program to succeed and continue on an annual basis.

Students implementing this program will also have the opportunity to be trained as LIVESTRONG Foundation advocates, becoming representatives of the Foundation and our resources within their local community. Students will have the opportunity to distribute Foundation resources to local schools, hospitals, cancer centers and community organizations and educate their local cancer community on how we can help.

This program is ideal for student government organizations and service oriented student-led organizations. To be considered for this award, students must provide a letter of support from their university’s president or chancellor, or from their student activities association. This letter may be uploaded during the application process, mailed, faxed, or emailed to Community@LIVESTRONG. After submitting your application, LIVESTRONG Foundation staff will contact you with further instructions and information.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Camp Kesem Program Co-Chairs will identify, recruit, train and supervise student leadership teams to launch the new Camp Kesem chapters at selected Universities.
• Camp Kesem Student Leaders will increase awareness in their college and cancer communities, train new student leaders, recruit new campers and fundraise to maximize the number of campers ages 6–16 served annually.
• Camp Kesem Student Leaders will transfer knowledge to incoming student leaders, broaden and accelerate community partnerships and fundraising to ensure the long term sustainability of Camp Kesem nationally.

Apply for the Camp Kesem program