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Kesem is a national organization with over 140 chapters in colleges across the US. Each chapter is run by a coordinator team of 15+ student leaders who manage the chapter's operations.

• Co-Directors - manage coordinator team and communicate with national staff

• Coordinator Team (Coord) - 15+ student leaders who manage the operations of our chapter; includes the following positions

  • Alumni, Marketing, Public Relations (AMP) - alumni engagement, social media, send out newsletters, plan senior send-off, send camper birthday cards, design gear

  • Development (Dev) - organize large & small chapter fundraising events, support individual fundraising, plan Giving Tuesday, steward our donors

  • Treasurer (Treas) - handles revenue, expenses, reimbursements, and budget; works closely with the Development team as Dev/Treas

  • Make the Magic (MTM) - plan large gala fundraiser in the spring; includes guests, sponsorships, decorations, activities, and more

  • Operations (Ops) + Teen Leadership Program (TLP) - plan Friends + Family Days and camp, gather in-kind donations, and TLP focuses on our teen campers

  • Outreach - communicate with camper families to provide year-round support, recruiting and retaining campers and community contacts, and more

  • Volunteer (VoCo) - volunteer recruitment and retenetion, prepare and train volunteers, foster community among student leaders; the go-to leader for all college student leaders

• Committees - each coordinator team manages a couple committees of student leaders to support the Camp Kesem Berkeley chapter. You can learn more about committees and how to join them on this page.

• Student Leaders - this is you! We are so grateful to have you in this community.

• Kesem Member - attends weekly meetings, engages in community events

• Committee Member - Kesem member who also serves on one or more committees to support our chapter

• Counselor - Kesem member who attends camp in the summer; requires an application and interview in the spring

Big Events

• Camp Kesem - we host 2 week-long sessions of summer camp in August

• Kesem at Home (KAH) - our virtual summer program in 2020 and 2021

• Freinds + Family Day (F+FD) - community events that allow us to connect with campers, camper families, alumni, and community contacts throughout the year

• Giving Tuesday - a global day of giving that was founded for the world to give back following Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On November 30, Kesem and its students leaders will engage in a massive effort to fundraise for our campers.

• Make the Magic (MTM) - annual fundraising gala held in the spring; attracts over 200 guests to raise $90,000

Routine Events

• Meetings - each Wednesday night student volunteers gather on campus for bonding activities, learning about Kesem, and committee meetings

• Trainings - during some of our Wednesday night meetings, we will host mandatory trainings on how to be a super-star camp counselor

• Socials - fun opportunities to meet and hang out with Kesem members

• Fundraisers - a variety of fun events to raise money for our chapter

• Kesem-ism - a word we use in Kesem spaces that is either unique to our organization or has a different meaning in context

• Kesem name - in the Kesem community, we have alternate names (like "Sprout" and "Nala") that we go by to emulate the silly camp energy and prevent our campers from finding us on social media

• Coord - coordinator team of 15+ student leaders who manage the operations of our chapter; see leadership structure section above for details

• Mooses & Juices - our ‘moose-juice’ program is our way of introducing new members (juices) to our organization by pairing them with a returning member (moose) to help integrate them; names are based off of this camp song

• Classy - fundraising platform where student leaders can collect donations on their individual fundraising page; learn more on our fundraising information page

• CKB - Camp Kesem Berkeley

Kesem is more than just a summer camp– we are a community that supports our families year-round through events, personal meet-ups, mail, and more. We welcome and support families in our community regardless of whether of not they attend camp. Below are the year-round services that we offer to our families.

• Kesem Through and Beyond Support - our free year-round services provide children impacted by a parent's cancer a continuum of touchpoints throughout the year

• Camp Kesem - Kesem's flagship program operates over 100 free summer camps in 40 states for children ages 6 to 18 who have been impacted by a parent's cancer

• Warm Welcomes - care package sent to our campers when their camp applications are approved

• Friends + Family Day - regular gatherings for existing and interested camper families, alumni, supporters and Kesem student leaders for a day of community building

• Kesem By Your Side - provides customized support for children through the many challenges associated with a parent or guardian's cancer journey

• Kesem Special Deliveries - provides all children with personalized greetings– delivered by either traditional or electronic mail. This includes birthday cards, sympathy cards, and more.

• Kesem Online Resources - provides online access to topical resources– including publications, books, organizations and resources

Camp Activities

• Cabin Chat - at the end of each day, each cabin or unit gathers to reflect on the day and answer questions posed by the cabin chat leader. We pass the talking stick around the circle twice, giving two opportunities for everyone to share or pass. This creates a space for bonding, reflection, and empowerment amongst campers and counselors.

• Empowerment - programming where we celebrate and empower our campers. Includes reflection, sharing, and acknowledgement that we are all part of the Camp Kesem family for the same reason. We are there for one another, and we are strong and support one another, which is empowering and reassuring. We talk about our experience with cancer in a positive way that empowers us to enter the real world with a sense of strength because of our Kesem family. This creates an evident difference between a normal summer camp and Camp Kesem.

• Lake Day - includes a morning or afternoon spent kayaking, swimming, and chilling at the lake

• Messy Day - includes an all-camp activity where people run around, play games, and get covered in paint

• Flagpole - before each meal, everyone gathers to sing camp songs; units compete on who has the most spirit to be let into the meal first

• Stand-by-me - each unit's cheer; often chanted at flagpole

• Rotations - led by program counselors, campers in green through red units cycle through art, drama, science, nature, and sports rotations throughout camp

Camp Structure

• Admin / Rainbow Unit - a group of coordinators who run the behind-the-scenes and logistics aspect of camp

• Unit - campers are grouped into units, based on their age group, and journey through camp together

• Unit Leaders - the lead counselors in each unit who manage logistics, handle situations, lead counselors, and are CPR certified

• Program Counselors - in addition to being counselors, program counselors lead rotations for green through red units

• Counselor - supervises, engages, and connects with campers

• Professional Staff - nurses and mental health professionals (MHPs), who are here to support our campers and counselors through anything & everything

• Camp Advisors - volunteer or alumni from outsidee of our chapter; works to ensure the safety of everyone at camp; agent to Camp Kesem Nationals

Camp Rules

• Ratio - Rule of 3. We stay in groups of 3 at all times in a Kesem setting. This can consist of 2 counselors + 1 camper or 1 counselor + 2 campers. You can have more people in your group but never less! In an in-person context, this does not mean you can never have a one-on-one conversation with a camper; it just means that you have to be in sight of another counselor.

• NCA - stands for “not camp appropriate.” We use “NCA” or say “that’s NCA” whenever a camper, or counselor, says anything that should not be discussed at camp or in a Kesem context. For example: swearing, talk of drinking/drugs, relationships, etc.

• "Hug a tree" - something counselors say when they are called by their real name; for example, Starman: “Hey Macy, let’s go play capture the flag!” Kismet: “HUG A TREE!” Kismet will then put her arms up like a tree, and Starman would hug her. When we are with our campers, we only use our Kesem names.

• Language - in Kesem we try to stay away from slang that includes “kill,” “die,” or “sick,” as they can be triggering for some campers. For instance, we say “you’re squashing it!” or “you crushed it!” instead of “you killed it!” Similar phrases we avoid are “that’s sick!” and “omg I’m literally dying rn.”

Units

• Green - 6-7 yrs

• Yellow - 8-9 yrs

• Blue - 10 yrs

• Purple - 11 yrs

• Red - 12 yrs

• Bronze - 13 yrs

• Silver - 14 yrs

• Gold - 15-16 yrs

• LIT/Pink - 17-18 yrs; Leaders in Training program