Cancer. The dreaded word no one wants to hear at their doctor’s appointment.

The diagnosis often has profound effects on not only the ones fighting the disease, but also their loved ones. Namely the children.

This was the motivation for Madelyn Slaten to found Mississippi State University’s Camp Kesem in 2018. Though she is no longer involved with the organization since graduating last year, she is responsible for its creation.

“I just came to school and when I saw there was not one, I figured I would do whatever I could do to bring it here,” Slaten said. “Cancer impacts everyone and kids in Mississippi should not have access taken away from them.”

Camp Kesem is an organization that supports children who are dealing with a parent’s cancer diagnosis or even death.

Part of the way in which it does this is through a week-long camp for the children.

“We have a variety of games and projects for all our kids to participate in,” said Samuel Stewart, director for the chapter. “This includes arts and crafts, hiking, singing songs, playing messy games (just throwing paint all over each other), along with giving them an opportunity to talk about what they’re going through. We are working to create a sense of normality in their life.”

Slaten was a Kesem kid herself. Her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she signed Slaten and her siblings up for the camp at Vanderbilt University.

Slaten went to the camp for four years, and the experience was one that left her with a desire to help others in the same way.

“It made me want to go into college and try to give that same experience to other people,” Slaten said.

She set out, with the help of an MSU faculty member, Susan Brooks, and began the “lengthy process” of getting the chapter established.

Firstly, they had to compile a list of potential students to be involved with the organization. The next step, and perhaps the most important, was engaging with the community.

“You work to find people in the community who would be willing to push out what Kesem is and help find campers and families that would benefit from the program,” Slaten said. “Then you also had to gather fundraising information and pull together a bunch of businesses in Starkville that you thought would be willing to donate to the camp because our campers do not pay anything to come to camp.”

Finally, the fate of the chapter lay at the feet of online voters.

The 12 universities that completed the application process were part of an online poll, wherein people voted for them. The top five would be granted a chapter.

MSU finished at the top of the list, with more than 12,000 votes.

“I guess this was just to show that people would support Kesem and that it would thrive in the Starkville community,” Slaten said.

Since then, fundraising has been an integral part of the experience for the students involved with the organization.

Make the Magic is the annual fundraising event hosted by the group.

This year’s event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on April 30 in the Colvard Student Union. Tickets are $55, tables are $330.

The formal event features dining, auctions and even the opportunity to sponsor campers.

“Make the Magic is one of our biggest events for fundraising,” said Alex Carraway, Make the Magic coordinator. “We do a bunch of different things. Essentially it’s just a night where you get to dress up and you usually have dinner. We do paddle raise fundraisers and there is a ticket entry, so you pay for a ticket and all of those funds go to Kesem. You get a table with family or other people you want to invite. Last year we did a segment that was to sponsor a camper, where we put up how much it costs for certain things at camp and people could donate that amount. We wound up making a lot of money last year, and I am hoping it ends up making as much this year.”

Being a nonprofit, fundraising is essential to maintain operations.

“Fundraising is something we always need help with,” Stewart said. “Since we are a nonprofit, we provide the camp to these kids for free.”

In-person camps
This year will be the second in-person camp for MSU.

The first two camps fell during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The campers were sent packages that included all of the supplies needed for the activities and then met with counselors via Zoom.

“We did ‘Cooking with a Counselor’ and taught them how to make yummy meals,” Carraway said. “We made friendship bracelets. We sent them a package with everything they would need for camp supplies. So, we gave them the beads for friendship bracelet making and other fun activities throughout the day. We also had trivia for them to still be able to have fun while online because there was kind of that disconnect.”

Slaten said she believes the camp benefited from the two virtual years.

“I really felt like, for our chapter, it was really good to have those two years be our first two camps because sometimes it may be the kids’ first time away from home and that can be scary for them and also for the parents,” she said. “Having it virtually, it gave them the opportunity to see the people they would be around and the type of activities they would do. It kind of helped segue them into a full week away from home.”

HOW TO GO
■ WHAT: Camp Kesem at Mississippi State’s Make the Magic Fundraiser
■ WHEN: April 30 from 5-8 p.m.
■ WHERE: Colvard Student Union, 198 Lee Boulevard, Mississippi State
■ HOW: Wear formal attire. Visit donate.kesem.org/missstmtm23 to purchase tickets. $55 per ticket, $330 per table (seats 7).