Back In Beantown: More Camping?
September 30, 2021
By Lindsay Boudreau
Friendship bracelets, crafts, and scavenger hunts…sound like the typical college experience? Maybe not to you, but to Murphy Kaphing, these are what she looks forward to as she returns to Boston for the fall semester. Don’t worry, as a Pre-Med Human Physiology major, Murphy has plenty of difficult exams and complicated labs as well. But Murphy is also a co-coordinator for the Boston University chapter of Camp Kesem—a non-profit that focuses on creating a community by organizing and hosting free summer camps for children (ages 5-17) who have been affected by their parent’s cancer.
Murphy first heard about Camp Kesem through Splash her freshman year. As she already had experience working with children and knew that she would like to go into Pediatrics after Med school, she thought that Camp Kesem would be a fun and rewarding organization to become involved with at BU. She then became a general body member, a committee member, then a counselor, and a dev coordinator for the Camp’s e-board. This is currently Murphy’s third year working with the non-profit, and she couldn’t imagine her BU experience without it. She values that the camp provides the children “with a space to escape, to be a kid, especially when they have to grow up so quickly” because of their parents’ cancer, and, by far, her favorite part of her role is interacting with the campers.
This was complicated when Camp Kesem went virtual last year. Murphy explains that “camp is supposed to be fun… outdoors with kayaking and activities… but everyone had to stay at home in front of a computer screen, just like during the school year.” Because of this, the non-profit had to adapt. Instead of bonfires and swimming, Murphy helped to organize things like activities via Zoom and send packages to all the campers with popcorn for virtual movie nights. Despite all the fun they had over the summer, it just wasn’t the same. That’s why Murphy was so excited to return to Boston this fall—it also meant a return to in-person camps. In September, Murphy worked on a weekend retreat with campers in-person for the first time in over a year. She was finally able to make all the bracelets she (and the other campers) wanted!
An important aspect of the organization is that it makes sure to care for the campers year round. Members of the staff are always available via the camp email for when the kids have an achievement or award they want to share. Additionally, the Kesem team creates and sends gifts for the student’s birthdays, and they also mail care packages if their parent/guardian receives a new diagnosis or passes away. Kesem fundraises independently, and they rely on donations to ensure that they can continue to provide free camps and year-long services for children who have been impacted by their parent’s cancer.
“When I think of my life here at BU, a big part of it is Camp Kesem.” —Murphy Kaphing
To learn more about Camp Kesem at BU, please visit
https://www.campkesem.org/find-a-camp/camp-kesem-at-boston-university and follow @campkesem_bu on instagram