By: Bill Riek, CFRE
KCH Associate Director of Gift Planning
I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at Camp Erin Family Camp recently, and it definitely didn’t disappoint! Camp Erin is an annual event hosted by the expert grief support team at Solace House Center for Grief & Healing, a program of Kansas City Hospice & Palliative Care. This year celebrates our 15th year of providing Camp Erin in Kansas City!
Families dealing with grief and loss stayed overnight June 27-28, 2025, at Great Wolf Lodge, enjoying all the wonderful amenities the facility offers, including an indoor water park with slides, pools and a lazy river, mini-golf, and an arcade. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and supporters, campers and their families attend this two-day event free of charge.
I got to meet the families in the morning for a nice hot breakfast, then we took the kids on a short bus ride to the Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center; if you haven’t had the opportunity to visit this jewel of Kansas City, I highly recommend it! Parents stayed at Great Wolf for adult grief counseling sessions.
At the Discovery Center kids were separated by age (I was privileged to work with the 14-18 olds) to participate in fun, age-appropriate grief support programming.
Our first session was music therapy. The volunteer started by gently encouraging everyone to pick one of the many instruments she brought, including drums, xylophones, rain sticks and many other options. Most of the kids chose something to play. A few chose to sit back, watch and listen as we explored expressing different emotions by playing softer, louder, faster, slower and by switching up instruments. Some of the kids even got creative and added their own personality to the movements.
Afterwards, we created a unique playlist, allowing each child to choose a song that reminded them of the person they’d lost. They were encouraged to share why they’d chosen that particular song. One of the teens choked up a little as she was explaining the significance of her song and gentle empathetic tears could be found on her peers’ faces (as well as those of a few of us volunteers).
Next, all of the groups came back together for a catered lunch generously donated by Tiki Taco. It was amazing to see many of these kids, who had just met that day, sitting together and sharing stories about school, vacations they had planned, and cracking jokes. I didn’t see anyone sitting off by themselves; everyone was building friendships that I hope last beyond their time at camp.
The next breakout session was art therapy. We took some small sticks and twine to make a frame decorated with a weave of yarn, decorative accents and lots of hot glue! To this, each child added a picture of their loved one. Some were intricate, some were simple (one even ended up looking like a teepee). If someone was struggling to get their project to come together, the other kids hopped in and offered help. The most beautiful part was when we all formed a circle; they showed off their art and again shared stories about their loved ones.
The final session of the day was tree climbing. To be more accurate, a long rope was looped over and suspended from a very tall black walnut tree. The kids were fitted with harnesses, allowing them to rappel up the trees (some more than 30 feet high).
There was one young teen who said she didn’t think she wanted to do it. The instructor was so kind and gentle and asked her if she would just put the harness on before we walked over to the tree, but that she wouldn’t have to do it if she didn’t want to. Once we got to the tree, there was a boy who enthusiastically volunteered to go first. He was an old pro who had definitely done this before, I think he ended up going up three times.
Everyone took their turns and when it came to the teen who was hesitant at first, she said she’d try. She ended up going about 20 feet in the air, then I saw the most amazing thing. She leaned back in the harness and just let herself “be” in nature. I don’t know what was going through her mind, but I could see she was at peace.
We all came back together one more time for ice cream before the kids got on the bus and went back to Great Wolf Lodge for another evening of fun and frolic. Having fun together and just getting to be a kid – with other kids who have also experienced loss – is an important part of camp and the healing journey.
I sincerely feel like growth and healing happened that day, and I’m so grateful I got to be a small part of it.
To all of the generous donors who contributed so we could make this day happen, I’m most thankful. You also were a part of someone’s grief journey and improved many lives that day.
If you ever feel called to volunteer at camp, I hope you’ll answer that call. I promise you won’t regret it.