Forget, for the moment, the coronavirus.
If you’re a kid, and you’re watching one of your parents fighting cancer (and maybe losing that fight), every day is a pandemic.
Stress.
Uncertainty.
The angst-y weight of it all.
Sometimes, a kid just needs a space to decompress.
A space such as Camp Kesem.
“Kesem” is the Hebrew word for magic, and Camp Kesem, Lily Rhinehart said, is just that.
Rhinehart co-directs WVU’s Camp Kesem chapter.
She’s an environmental sciences major from Elkins who has been with the chapter since her freshman year.
From its headquarters in Los Angeles, the nonprofit Kesem organization oversees 31 chapters in 44 states, including West Virginia and its flagship university in Morgantown.
“Nonprofit,” is the word, Rhinehart said.
That word carried an exceptionally big shadow last spring when COVID-19 clamped down.
Every Kesem event, everywhere, was halted, including the organization’s signature “Make the Magic” fundraisers and annual camps.
Which was critical.
That’s because every dollar brought in funds the camp for the above-mentioned youngsters who, otherwise, might only be able to keep a grim vigil, powerlessly, as a dread disease robs moms and dads of vitality, and maybe even their lives.
However, the “Make the Magic” fundraiser for WVU’s chapter is roaring back – virtually.
The gathering goes online 7 p.m., April 9, which is a Friday.
Click on https://donate.kesem.org/event/camp-kesem-at-west-virginia-university-make-the-magic-fy-2021/e292442 for details on how to register and take part in the live stream.
Your admission includes a complimentary “Make the Magic Gift Box,” with details of the event, as well as traditional camp crafts for the night of the event.
All proceeds from the Morgantown fundraiser go to the operation of the annual summer camp, which will be June 6-11, via Zoom.
Normally, the camp is held in the mountains of West Virginia, where participants can hike, romp, fish – and do everything but deal with the cancer in their households.
Unless they want to talk it out, Rhinehart said.
There are plenty of opportunities, she said, if that’s what a camper prefers.
Most though, don’t, the WVU student and camp counselor said.
“They just want to be kids,” Rhinehart said.
“And we give them the chance. That’s so rewarding.”
TWEET@DominionPostWV
