[relaxing music] [mellow music] - Cancer is not going to define you.

It's gonna be a part of you, just like the color of your eyes and the color of your hair.

It's one chapter of your story, it's not the whole story.

Helping kids in a time where they feel like their whole world is based on this C word, we help them find who they are again.

We help them find that child inside.

[mellow music] Growing up in Moorestown in Burlington County was a great experience, because it was a very small town, and it was very safe and neighbors looked out for one another.

The summer entering fifth grade, I started to have seizures.

And we soon found out that I had a brain tumor and would need immediate surgery.

So that summer quickly went from plans as in spending time with friends, having to shift gears and plan for hospitalizations and surgery.

It really was an impact both not just on me, but me and my entire family.

[relaxing music] Be kind to one another today.

Just a single key for can't, please, it's the single one hanging.

I started to think about how I could impact family through providing experiences such as camp.

[hopeful music] In 1995, we started camp here in Burlington County.

So what's very unique to Camp No Worries is that we host patients, siblings, and bereaved siblings all in the same week.

And that is something no other camp across the country does.

My brothers and sisters were 100% the inspiration of having siblings join us at camp, because I distinctly remember the questions of why does my summer change, too?

[children shouting] Oftentimes, they feel responsible for the safety and inclusion of their brother and sister.

And we can have counselors out here that tap them on the shoulder and say, "Hey, I've got that this week.

You can just be a kid."

[upbeat music] [children chattering] [children singing] Each summer Camp No Worries hosts 100 campers, and to be able to do that, we need to recruit close to 150 volunteers.

We don't charge families to attend camp, so we work solely on donations, and we don't want any child to ever experience a lack of opportunity based on financial needs, transportation needs.

This is all our community believing in the need and strength of camp.

[motivating music] They're not a patient, they're not a sibling, they're not a bereaved sibling, they're kids, and they're campers.

[children shouting] I love to see the kids when they go boating.

There's just something beautiful about looking out at the lake and seeing all the children enjoying the beauty of nature.

We wanted to create age-appropriate opportunities for play and socialization.

We wanted to challenge kids to do something out of their comfort zone.

We wanted to support them and help them see the courage and strength they have inside.

[upbeat music] So I think when they come to camp, they quickly recognize and become so very comfortable knowing that they don't have to explain their day today.

We are a no-filter kind of camp.

Campers will recognize whether a child has a special need or limitation, and without adult guidance, find ways to include them in activities.

And it just happens naturally.

For a camper to move into a leadership role, it's just an amazing transition where we have campers who have gone from being a camper and who are now running camp in director positions.

- All right, where's my young guys?

[children shouting] - Is the borders or avoid a, your chimp.

- Ryan T., who is also a middle, he is a survivor.

We created a survivor supporter lunch, which is really just a big party to recognize all the challenges each has overcome.

[children shouting] - Would all of the survivors please stand up?

[everyone clapping] - People need this.

I think our campers need it, they see a counselor, someone they look up to, a role model, and know, "Wow, he or she had cancer, too, and now look, they're in college, they're a teacher, they're a mom."

It may help answer some of those questions they're afraid to ask about their future.

Camp is about celebrating all of you.

And to end our Survivor/Supporter Celebration we are having cupcakes, so stay seated!

[children cheering] [hopeful music] - We always recognize those campers who have not survived the disease.

And we engage in a memorial service for our campers and counselors, just to remember our friends and recognize the impact they had on our lives.

[soft gentle music] It is important for families who attend Camp No Worries, to know that their child is never forgotten, and then they're celebrated for years.

The feedback I hear from patients and families all the time is friends don't understand.

And I think what strikes me the most is I don't want to talk about cancer, I just want to be normal.

So the conversations that are happening in the bunks are not about cancer.

The conversations are about Pokemon cards, friendship bracelets, what's the newest TikTok video they watched in school this year.

And that is the beauty of camp.

I can't stress how many times I have heard, "I really got more than I gave, and this experience was life changing."

You've not only impacted the lives of the campers, but you've impacted the lives of volunteers.

We also have people we meet along the way who say, "Oh gosh, I could never do that, it must be so sad."

And I say to them, "You know, next year, why don't you come out to one of our visitor's slots and see what it's like?"

And I see those faces transform as I'm walking them through camp.

People don't realize until you're out here and immersed in camp how normal camp is.

[mellow music] Where I live has had an overall impact on how I live, because I know how fortunate both I am and how fortunate my family is to live in such a close-knit community.

I want other children to have those same opportunities no matter where they're from in New Jersey.

I hope that the children who attend camp today continue to have a passion and love for camp and will carry on the legacy of camp.

To be able to take a fragile child, bring them to camp, and see them leave with a different understanding, more confidence, a stronger sibling relationship, whatever little piece we give to them, that they can carry through the rest of their lives, that's what we hope to do to make just a little difference in one chapter of their lives and fill their hope, their friendships, and their stories.

[mellow music]