Summer is officially here and that marks the beginning of summer camps throughout New Jersey.
For a hundred kids in Tabernacle, summer camp means more than bonfires and toasted marshmallows.
At Camp No Worries, all the kids have one thing in common — cancer. It’s a week-long camp for kids with cancer, those in remission and their siblings.
One camper is 16-year-old Justin Barnabei from Rosenhayn who calls Camp No Worries a second family of sorts. Justin, who has been in remission from leukemia for two years, said, “It’s really special here because you have people who have gone through what you gone through.”
“What they go through on a daily basis is more than a normal person will go through in their lifetime,” said camp director Chris Callanan.
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Camp No Worries is the brainchild of Kasey Massa who, at 11 years old, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. At the beginning of the summer, she watched her friends head off to camp as she began treatments.
“I wanted a place, to develop a place, where kids could be kids and understand what each other was going through, so the idea started. It was really just a dream,” explained Kasey.
What began as one cancer survivor’s dream turned into a reality for more than 1,000 kids battling the disease along with their families. Camp No Worries is now in its 18th year. This season, nearly 90 campers are spending the week here.
There’s a 24/7 volunteer staff and medical team on hand. Although the camp is free to all the kids, private donations cover the costs which is about $800 per camper.
Chris Dobbins of West Deptford fought cancer at just 6 years old. For Dobbins, this camp experience is something he looks forward to every year. “Even though I had cancer, I’m kinda grateful cause I can come here every year,” he said.
Kerry Walsh is a counselor who was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 11. According to Walsh, the hope and happiness and joy found at Camp No Worries provide a joyous alternative to the hospitals and treatment centers. “It’s just an overwhelming feeling of ‘yeah, let’s do this or yeah, we’re going to beat this, and we’re going to get this no matter what,'” said Walsh. “There are times that we do lose friends, but they live forever at camp.”
Having cancer isn’t the focus at Camp No Worries, but on this day, campers are honored with gold medals for being survivors.
For Kasey Massa, the message of the camp is hope and survival.
“It gives them a new hope that maybe they hadn’t had before,” she said. “Someone to look at, a light at the end of the tunnel when treatment’s over and see that there is life beyond cancer.”
Reporting from Tabernacle, Lauren Wanko has the full story.