“This is what heaven must be like,” said a cancer survivor about Camp Keepsake. Not long ago, this might have been a somber statement, but thanks to the help of organizations such as the Cancer Hope Foundation, adult cancer patients and their families are finding enough fun to fill a lifetime. And what makes all this even more remarkable is that the Cancer Hope Foundation offers this weekend camp retreat for free.

 

The Cancer Hope Foundation is a non-profit organization that has primarily focused its efforts on offering a free camp for adult cancer patients and survivors to enjoy with their families and close friends. Camp Keepsake presents an unmatched environment with activities and a sense of community that makes for an experience which can only be fully realized by attending.

 

“Everyone involved is passionate about what we do here,” said Dr. Christopher Roos, the Founder and President of the Cancer Hope Foundation. Backed by a doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership, Roos also serves as the President of Dal/Lyn International, Inc. and the Vice-President of Concrete Solutions & Supply.

 

The idea to create a place where cancer patients and survivors could go to have fun and get away from the draining tasks of doctor’s visits and treatments came following the days Roos spent sitting beside one of his close friends in her last hours of a long fight with cancer. With family and friends by their side, Camp Keepsake offers cancer patients a much needed retreat and a chance for relaxation.

 

“I envisioned a fun place where guests could find peace while taking a break from the worries of the day,” Roos said. “I wanted to give people a place that offered support to others with fears and frustrations just like those I was experiencing. It would be a retreat enabling the campers to form a network of support during their most difficult time.”

 

Roos firmly believes that when one person has cancer, it has a profound affect on everyone involved in that person’s life. Consequently, Camp Keepsake offers support to both those with the disease and their closest loved ones.

 

To try and explain my meeting with Roos and fellow board member Dianne Carlson seems futile. Even for a writer, I find it hard to put into words the sense of dedication and pure benevolence Roos and his group of volunteers exude through the Cancer Hope Foundation. This emotion that can’t be realized has helped numerous cancer patients and survivors achieve a sense of normalcy in the day-to-day doldrums of battling a life-threatening disease.

 

“You just don’t even know,” Roos said, stressing the point that trying to explain Camp Keepsake did the retreat no justice. “Unless you’re there, you just can’t begin to understand the impact everyone there has on your life.”

 

From arranging meals, to lodging, to warm showers and a multitude of activities, the volunteers who coordinate everything for that one special weekend a year put their heart and soul into making it a memorable experience for everyone involved.

 

The camp is situated in a hidden grove of perfection tucked into Malibu Canyon so that guests and their families can forget about the medical aspect of their disease and simply have a good time. With a fire station just down the road along with a Sheriff’s station housing a helipad also close by, one might say that the camp’s location is ideal should any major emergency arise that the camp medical team is unable to handle. The medical help available onsite typically consists of an emergency room doctor along with other practitioners and nurses, depending on the particular camp session. In another relieving aspect, some of the best known cancer treatment facilities are located nearby at Cedars Sinai, UCLA and the City of Hope.

 

The directors of Camp Keepsake strive to fill the retreat with a balance of campers, including those who have attended previous camp sessions and who can help to create a more comfortable environment and mentor the new campers. Though directors use various criteria during the selection process, they try to include campers who are in active treatment or maintenance therapy and others who have been in remission for either long or short periods of time.

 

“Once you’re at camp, it’s hard to tell who has cancer and who doesn’t,” Roos said.

 

Scheduling of activities changes by the year and seems to be greatly determined by the particular year’s camp theme. It is not unusual for campers to be met with chair massages and a live band near the check-in tables, as families and their friends are immediately surrounded in a world of fun and relaxation at Camp Keepsake. The first night features a dinner and orientation, followed by optional activities throughout the weekend that in past years have included a juggling or hypnotist show, music around a fire pit, family movies and stargazing. One of the important aspects of Camp Keepsake is that nothing is forced on the people who come for the weekend.

 

“We offer lots of workshops, but if they just want to sit under a tree and read a book, that’s fine with us too,” Roos said. “It’s all about feeling comfortable and enjoying what they’re doing.”

 

The first full day begins with an early hike for those who want to get some exercise or spa treatments for others who feel like easing into their day with a little pampering. Wonderful spa services such as massages, facials, haircuts, manicures, pedicures, acupuncture and reflexology are some of the many spa services available throughout the day to the campers. In addition to various spa amenities, a buffet of fun events including archery, aerobics, yoga, crafts, disc golf, swimming, dance classes, hypnotherapy and other entertaining and relaxing activities fill the day. Child care is available most of the day as well, which gives the kids a chance to have fun with each other and their parents some much needed down time. Special activities are planned for the youthful guests and food is in no short supply, as three main meals are served and snacks are available throughout the day. One of the biggest dilemmas for the guests at Camp Keepsake is finding out how to fit all of these great choices into just one day’s schedule.

 

After dinner is served and the camper’s bellies are full, a special Wishing Scroll Ceremony takes place. A much anticipated event for the returnees, this ritual affords each family and member at the camp an opportunity to read their wishes from scrolls made throughout the day. Some campers share their touching, and at times funny wishes, while others prefer to keep their’s private. Once each family has been offered the chance, the scrolls are then placed in a camp fire and some of the ashes are given to each person at a special closing ceremony. The semblance is that every camper and staff can carry the wishes of everyone with them. Some of the ashes from the previous year’s Scroll Ceremony are also added to the fire pit, so that wishes from years past are carried on with those of the present.

 

“People come in as strangers on the first night of camp, but by the second day they’re like family,” Roos said. “The impact that everyone has on each other is unbelievable.”

 

Recently, a group of Newbury Park High School students donated their time and put together a DVD about the camp, featuring a montage of clips from the Scroll Ceremony and other activities from Camp Keepsake. Watching this, I felt an immediate swelling in my heart, followed by an overwhelming flood of goose bumps. Seeing the looks on the faces of everyone there cemented the assumptions that were floating in my head about just how much this camp has touched so many lives.

 

As a non-profit organization, the Cancer Hope Foundation is constantly grappling with the difficulties of raising money for Camp Keepsake. “We fundraise all year-round for the one camp session we offer,” Roos said. “It’s hard work, but it pays off more than anyone could realize.”

 

With help from small, private donations along with contributions from other foundations and larger local companies, Camp Keepsake has been able to remain a cost-free treasure for cancer patients, their families and friends. Just a few major contributors to Camp Keepsake have been the Harold McAlister Foundation, The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Macy’s, the Wilsey Foundation, Southwest Airlines, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Dole and the James M. and Frieda E. Montgomery Foundation

 

As the number of applicants has increased over the years, the Cancer Hope Foundation is facing something that could be a blessing or a downfall. With so many people wanting to come to Camp Keepsake, the foundation has been put in a position where they might have to start turning people away because they can’t accommodate the large numbers. The positive side to this dilemma is that the organization is looking to offer a second camp for the overflow of people. Unfortunately, this option depends on funding, which is a hard obstacle to overcome. But then again, it seems like a small hurdle compared to cancer.

 

To find out more about the Cancer Hope Foundation, including how to become a camper or how you can help, please visit www.cancerhopefoundation.org. The organization can also be reached via phone at (805)384-5445 or email info@cancerhopefoundation.org.