Camp Erin is a special free camp for children ages 6 through 17 who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
Run by the Mourning Hope Grief Center in Lincoln, it’s funded in part by The Moyer Foundation, started by Major League All-star pitcher Jamie Moyer and his wife, Karen.
The Lincoln camp takes place at Carol Joy Holling Camp in Ashland on the weekend of September 23rd.
Carly Runestad, Executive Director of Mourning Hope Grief Center, says there is a real need for this type of camp because children’s grief too often goes unrecognized.
"As a society, we tend to overlook that children are affected by grief and sometimes that’s because children grieve very differently than adults, and it may come out years later, it may come out in different ways…..But sometimes it’s also because the adults are grieving so much themselves. Their grief is so raw and so acute that it’s difficult to look at a child, who may be grieving in a different way, and recognize that it is even grief and that it needs to be addressed as well too.”
Runestad says this is the third year of the camp, which doubled in size from its first to second year.
She says it’s a great mix of what she calls doing the work of grief and having fun with traditional camp activities. This year’s camp is already about two thirds full, and there was a waiting list last year.
For more information, the website is mourninghope.org.