When a child loses a loved one to cancer, their world changes forever.

CancerCare’s free Healing Hearts Family Bereavement Camp allows families who have experienced the loss of a loved one to cancer to come together for a weekend retreat. Each year, families spend three days at a working dude ranch in the beautiful Poconos. Fun activities like swimming, horseback riding, and fishing are combined with therapeutic grief activities led by CancerCare professional oncology social workers.

“The camp is a place where the families can come together and not feel different,” explains CancerCare’s Claire Grainger, LCSW. “The kids meet others who have experienced a similar loss and they don’t have to explain anything to one another…There are a lot of tears, but there is also so much laughter. They’ve all found new friends – people that understand.”

Less than three months after losing her husband Tom to cancer, Jenny and her daughter signed up for the camp. Jenny shares, “I was nervous about going since our loss was still so raw, but we’ve now attended the Camp for the past four years and it really means so much to us to be with others who have experienced a similar loss. It is a wonderful way for all of us to be together to honor our loved ones. We know that everyone there understands how we feel and we’re safe to cry or laugh with no fear, no judgment.”

Like all of CancerCare’s services, the Healing Hearts Family Bereavement Camp is offered to families completely free of charge. That’s why we need your support to help us offer the camp to even more families who have lost a loved one to cancer.

• A gift of $10 can help us buy marshmallows for the kids to enjoy by campfire.

• A donation of $25 can provide a family of four with enough art supplies to last the entire weekend.

• A gift of $36 can pay for an hour of line-dancing lessons (taught by a real cowboy!).

• A $100 contribution can give a family of 4 an hour of horseback riding.

• And a donation of $1,000 will cover all expenses for a family of four to attend the camp.

Even if you can’t make a donation at this time, we encourage you to help share our campaign with your friends and colleagues. There are a few ways to do this, including:

• Copying the campaign URL and paste it into an email or social media update

• Click on the Facebook, Google Plus or Twitter icons to share through your social media networks