About a year and a half ago, doctors diagnosed Cathy Kennedy with breast cancer. She left work to handle the necessary surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Left with few options, the Syracuse City School District teacher took a seven-month leave of absence to fight cancer. 

Kennedy had to explain to her then eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son how something that was making her so sick was helping her recover. Ultimately, there are some things the family was going through that couldn’t simply be healed with that explanation. 

But in October, Kennedy was introduced to Camp Good Days & Special Times, an organization that alleviates some of the hardships families like Kennedy’s face. Since then, her family has returned to a normal lifestyle, she said in an email. Now, the organization is celebrating 40 years of helping children with cancer or who have a family member with cancer through year-round recreational and supporting events.

That’s the goal of this organization, said communications director Kira Smelser in an email. She added Camp Good Days helps children struggling to have a childhood by providing activities like hiking and  singing around a campfire, allowing them to just be kids. 

Since its 1979 inception, the organization has served more than 48,300 campers from 22 states and 36 foreign countries, Smelser said. But despite this growth, it started small — between a father and his daughter.

As Gary Mervis, who founded Camp Good Days, supported his daughter Elizabeth “Teddi” who was battling a brain tumor, he unsuccessfully searched the country for treatment, only to discover it wasn’t the treatment or tumor causing the most pain for his daughter. Instead, it was the loneliness of being the only child in her school or neighborhood going through the hardships of cancer, Smelser said. Since then, the organization has grown in its purpose. 

Joining Camp Good Days & Special Times has given Liam (left) and Arielle Kennedy some relief as their mother underwent cancer treatment. Courtesy of Kathy Reilley

In order to give children the chance to be children, it’s important the camp doesn’t focus on cancer, said Kathy Reilley, the central New York regional director, in an email. Instead, it’s important to focus on creating a culture of fun, friendship and kindness, but most importantly, one that emphasizes the reconnection of families, she said. 

Kennedy said that Reilley set her up with a program called “The Sassy Survivors,” which is a group of women who have dealt with a cancer diagnosis. The diagnoses can range from any stage or if a woman has gone through remission, Kennedy said, and they come together to do various activities. 

“Most people feel uncomfortable around you because they don’t know what to say to you when they hear you have cancer. This makes it more difficult to get through,” Kennedy said. “Sassy Survivors is a way to connect with others that share similar experiences and truly know what you are going through.”

It’s also difficult for outsiders to understand what Camp Good Days is, Reilley said. There are some misconceptions that it is “just” for children with cancer, she said. Sometimes, that overshadows the ultimate purpose of supporting families. Smelser echoed this statement and said that Camp Good Days has grown in many ways.

“Camp Good Days has grown to have programs not only for children diagnosed with cancer,” she said, “but also programs for children who have a parent or sibling diagnosed with cancer…who have lost a parent or sibling to cancer, adult men and women’s programs, and a weekend retreat program for families in which one person has been diagnosed with a brain tumor.”  

One of the vital — and impressive —aspects of this program is that it gives children with cancer the opportunity for fun they wouldn’t have otherwise had, Kennedy said. This summer, it is offering a variety of opportunities for families to escape hard times.

In July and August, the recreational facility on Keuka Lake will be home to six weeks of camp, with each week dedicated to a different demographic. The first two weeks are “Childhood USA I and II,” giving children ages eight to 12 the opportunity to go one week and children ages 13 to 17 the opportunity to go the next, Smelser said.

In September, the camp hosts a bike ride called the “Tour de Teddi.” The ride offers two routes, a 27-mile course to Hammondsport and back and a 45-mile course around Keuka Lake, Reilley said. In October, there’s the annual “Wine in the Woods” at Chantelle Marie Lakehouse & Celebration Venue, a venue overlooking Owasco Lake. 

Kennedy added Camp Good Days has given her family some much-needed relief from the realities of cancer. 

“It is unbelievable that we are able to participate in all of these events free of charge,” she said. “I am truly grateful to Camp Good Days for all that they have done for my family.”

Published on July 22, 2019 at 8:23 pm

gfpagano@syr.edu