On Saturday, March 22, patrons gathered for Kesem’s first annual Make the Magic Gala at the University of Utah. The gala, aimed at fundraising for children impacted by a parent’s cancer, featured live music and hosted a cocktail hour, dinner, dessert, drinks and a silent auction.
Kesem, a national organization with chapters at over 100 universities, provides services to support the mental health of children of parents with cancer. Kesem offers these kids a program called Camp Kesem, a one week-long summer camp that is free for eligible children aged 6-18.
Camp counselor Jocelyn “Strawberry Shortcake” Munson was the gala’s first keynote speaker. She spoke of her mom being diagnosed with cancer when she was 4 years old.
“Kesem is an organization that can really teach campers how to work through their struggles and give them the support system they need throughout their experiences with cancer and give them a support system through their life,” she said.
Munson joined the Kesem chapter at UC Davis because it was the closest chapter to their home in Reno, Nevada, and when she was eligible at age 6, her mom enrolled her.
“My favorite part of camp was always Cabin Chat and Empowerment.” she said.
Camp attendees and counselors choose a camp name for themselves. The names may be something with great meaning to the individual or something silly. The camp name’s main function is anonymity, but people often create a persona with their camp name to help them focus on being present and having fun.
Munson’s brother also attended camp with her and she mentions not seeing much emotion from him prior to the Empowerment activity, which is when the whole camp gets together to discuss their experiences.
“I would finally see his emotions and how it was not just affecting me, but also him,” Munson said.
“In a way you can’t really, truly understand the impact that cancer has on children until you’re hearing your family members and kids at the age of 6 talking about their experience with cancer and sometimes the loss of a parent,” she added.
Munson, who became a counselor last year, said the transition from camper to counselor showed her a different side of Kesem.
“I’m really excited that I’m now in a role to make it even better for the kids,” she said.
The gala’s second keynote speaker Isaac “Snowbird” Goddard, spoke of his own story through his mom’s cancer journey that tragically resulted in her passing in fall 2021. He came across the Kesem booth at a club fair at Southern Utah University.
“And little did I know at that time that Kesem was going to change my life.” Goddard said.
Though Goddard was nervous to attend camp for the first time, “The second I set foot on the property, I just knew that this was going to be a great week.”
While camp doesn’t center around or focus heavily on the topic of cancer, it does create a safe space for the kids to open up about their experiences, with others who may be experiencing something similar.
“I knew that Kesem was going to be a big part of my life. Being there to help the kids and being able to process what was going on in my life and feel that Kesem magic,” Goddard said.
Goddard asked his sisters to attend Kesem with him the following year, where they quickly made many friends who they keep in contact with to this day.
“I’ve seen first-hand not only how it has impacted not only my life, but also my sisters. They didn’t have friends that could relate to what they had been through before Kesem.”
Being a Part of Kesem
Kesem is open to all students and throughout the year, students who are members of their campus’ chapter are involved in various student-organized fundraising events which will allow all children grappling with their parents’ cancer the ability to attend camp for free.
The students who are on the coordination board also attend the camp each year, either as counselors or in an administrative capacity.
AnnaBelle “Koi” Bosworth, AMP coordinator, detailed the Empowerment activity, where the kids are encouraged to share their stories with one another.
“It’s a really rewarding experience to see these kids come out of their shells and share where they come from and how Kesem has helped them.” Bosworth said.
Bosworth went on to discuss an important focus of membership with Kesem at the U.
“Kesem focuses on inclusion and including everyone within Kesem. No matter who you are or where you come from, Kesem is a place to feel like you have a family and to feel heard and understood.”
Zander “Mozart” Lott, co-director of Kesem at the U, spoke of his own journey with Kesem.
“I think I can learn from how the kids handle hardship and be stronger for it. And invest in my own communities and help the people around me be stronger, by learning from these people who are strong,” Lott said.
This has been an important year for Kesem at the U, with the organization being only four years old, this was the first year they were able to hold their first annual gala.
“What I really value about the Make the Magic Gala, specifically, is the chance to connect people to what we do. We want to make that information available to other people,” Lott said.
The gala raised $7,700 in total and Lott said that, alongside making a financial contribution, he hopes the gala attendees went “to connect to this cause so they can recognize that they can also make a difference and feel the power that comes with investing in community.”
“It’s not often that people get the chance to connect with something bigger than themselves in such a communal way,” Lott added.
Ashlin “Bernie” Holbrook, co-director of Kesem at the U, said the U chapter was created because there was an underserved population in northern Utah and they wanted to create more opportunities for kids in the area to have access to Kesem’s services.
“At our first camp we had around 30 campers and now this year, our fourth year, we are going to have 60-70 campers,” she said.
Holbrook also detailed her journey joining Kesem with friends and how rewarding it’s been to experience the growth of their chapter the last three years.
“It’s been really cool to see other people fall in love with Kesem’s mission, like I did,” Holbrook said. “We want everybody to be involved in this mission. Kesem is available to everybody. I would love more people to get involved.”
