Camp Kesem to give back to kids

A brand new teddy bear lights up a little girl’s face – a little girl who doesn’t live a normal life because her parents have cancer.\nNow, the Osmon Chiropractic Center is helping Camp Kesem to make more of these moments by asking new or old patients to bring in a “cuddly critter” in exchange for a free case history, orthopedic and neurological exam and x-rays. Camp Kesem is a student-run camp held for kids ages 6 through 13 whose parents have cancer.\n“The point of Camp Kesem is to bring magic into their lives,” said junior Leslie Leonard. “A lot of times they feel inadequate because they feel they can’t do what’s asked of them at home. When they go to school, their teachers and friends might not know. We just hope they have a place they can bond with other kids.”\nOn April 12, current patients at Osmon Chiropractice Center can come in and receive free exams while enjoying balloons and a decorated office.\n“Anybody can just come in with no commitment,” said Dr. Brandon Osmon. “I’m trying to provide an incentive to people who wouldn’t usually come in.” \nOsmon hopes to collect at least 50 cuddly critters to give to kids who attend Camp Kesem this summer. This is the first time he’s done something like this and he hopes to make it an annual event.\n“I was just looking for a group that I could help,” Osmon said. “I personally lost a friend four years ago to cancer.”\nCamp Kesem, located in Bloomington, runs the first week in August and 60 kids attend the camp each year, said senior Lauren Ellis, a counselor who works with the fundraising committee. To run the camp costs $49,000, she said, but the goal this year is to raise $70,000 to $80,000. So far, IU students have raised about $42,000.\n“It gives them a week just to be kids,” Ellis said. “It gives them a week to set their lives aside. It’s a way to meet other kids who are like them,” she said.\nThere are about 35 counselors who run the camp every year and about 150 students who help with fundraising for and planning the camp, Leonard said. The camp can hold 60 campers, but only 42 have signed up so far.\n“The things that come out of their mouths are so funny,” Ellis said about the girls in her camp group. “There’s always the one who’s shy, the one who wants to be the mother and the two who can’t stand each other, but are best friends in the end.”\nIU students hold fundraising events throughout the year to raise money for Camp Kesem. Last weekend, they held “Make the Magic,” in which $10,000 was raised, Ellis said. Students also do letter-writing in which they each write 10 letters to businesses or to people they know who they think would be interested in donating. The majority of the money for the camp comes from letter-writing, she said.\n“I wanted to work at a summer camp, but I was taking classes,” Ellis said. “I went into it without knowing what it really ways. I just fell in love with them. I just love spending time with the children.”\nA new program called the Teen Adventure Program will start this summer for kids who are ages 14 to 16, said Mark Howard, a Camp Kesem counselor. In this program, which is an extension of Camp Kesem, teens do camp activities at the beginning of the week, but they do off-site things the second part of the week so they can learn to rough it.\n“When they turn 13, we just say ‘bye,’” Howard said. “With this, they are still part of the family, but doing more teen things. It’s a way for campers to stay involved.”