Three, two one — and Camp Rising Sun was live online from downtown Columbus, into homes of kids in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. The global pandemic didn’t derail the 2020 camp for children who are being treated, or have been treated, for cancer. It did give it a new look. COVID-19 meant the annual week-long camp couldn’t convene in-person as usual, but resourceful organizers did the next best thing: held a virtual camp June 8-13.

Venue 208 on Fifth Street South became CRS Central, outfitted with colorful backdrops, game boards, craft supplies, tech equipment and volunteers who conducted three sessions daily that campers could sign in to from home via Zoom. One Wednesday activity was a scavenger hunt.

“Go find something that smells good,” a counselor instructed kids who were logged in from home. Immediately, each camper — visible in “windows” on an oversized computer screen counselors could see — dashed out of camera view while the 60-second countdown for each game task began. One by one, they raced back with a candle, perfume, carpet spray, deodorant, even Hawaiian Punch. The hunt generated plenty of spontaneous laughter, like much of the rest of the week.

Turning camp into a cyber experience was uncharted territory, requiring a rethink and certain expertise. Camp co-director Allison Kizer admitted to a few pre-camp butterflies. But glitches were few and easily overcome by a tech-savvy production crew.

“This has turned out to go extremely well. I’ve been amazed at the talent of our counselors and volunteers,” said Kizer, who co-directed CRS with Siggy Weeks. “Their ideas, the games they’ve come up with — some we’ll probably keep going forward.”

Many campers and counselors return every year. Volunteers, some former campers themselves, many from out-of-town, annually set aside the week, taking off work.

“Having gone through camp as a camper and feeling how special it is to a kid going through cancer treatment, being in a position where I can provide that for other kids — it’s immeasurable how much that means to me, and I know it means that much more to those kids,” said Lane Myers, 25, of Madison. He was a camper from age 11 until becoming a counselor at 17.

Bo Carter of Hatley, 12, has been a camper since 2016. Camp is a great place to hang out with other kids who have shared some of the same challenges, he said. They develop bonds with volunteers, and “kids always know it’ll be fun.”

Since 1987, Camp Rising Sun has reached out to children who have faced what no child should have to. In the midst of a pandemic, that did not stop. Camp 2020 is now in the history books. Plans are already percolating for CRS 2021– in-person and still going strong.

Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.