Being diagnosed with cancer can be difficult for anyone. But for a young family going through it largely on their own, it can seem hopeless, Derby resident Jennifer Strohm said. But a summer camp for youth who have, or have had, cancer quickly changed that, she said.
Strohm said the aptly named Camp Hope, based at Camp Aldrich near Claflin, Kansas, helped her and her son, Michael Yell, find the support they needed to get through his 2008 diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells.
“You end up with a support group for everyone, you know, for the kids and for yourself,” Strohm said. “That’s really nice.”
Camp Hope serves children and teens ages 5 to 17. It was started 34 years ago after now Derby resident Donna Brown had two children diagnosed with cancer and discovered they couldn’t participate in many of the regular summer activities.
“So she made it a mission to open up a camp for kids,” said Bryan Wohlwend, a Kansas City pediatrician and 1993 Derby High School graduate.
Wohlwend now heads up Camp Hope as the nonprofit’s president. He said he has been volunteering with the camp for 16 years.
While the camp typically holds between 60 and 90 kids, the volunteer force numbers more than 100.
Wohlwend said the camp has to maintain a full on-site medical team to help provide regular treatment and to be there in case of any emergencies. He said the team has even administered chemotherapy on-site.
“Basically if the kids are healthy enough to enjoy the experience, we’ll work it out so they can come,” he said.
Besides the medical concerns, Wohlwend said Camp Hope operates much like any other summer camp. They have swimming, arts and crafts, sports and outings to nearby Great Bend.
Yell said that was his favorite part of the camp. He said they would even set up a golf session and lunch with professional golfers in Great Bend.
Yell, now a junior at Derby High School, said this will be his last year of attending Camp Hope as a camper. But he said he would like to get back as much as he can as a volunteer.
“It was one of my favorite things about the summertime,” he said. “It’s just a great camp for kids who have gone through some bad stuff.”
Even though the camping part is coming to an end, Strohm said Camp Hope has given Yell lifelong connections from across the state.
She said they will sometimes travel through Hutchinson and Yell will ask to stop at the house of a friend he met at camp. She said they all stay in touch through Facebook, as well.
“They’re always there for each other,” she said. “They have this big support group.”
Camp Hope is now its own nonprofit organization. Wohlwend said it keeps growing each year, too.
Strohm said it’s good that more people are learning about it, but sad that so many kids are being diagnosed with cancer. She said she hopes to one day support the camp financially, as well.
“They are really awesome and they do a great thing for kids going through a horrible time in life, obviously,” she said. “To have that support, it’s amazing.”
