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Camp Helps Kids Deal With Grief Of Parents' Deaths

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Aug 6, 2008 6:24 pm US/Central

Camp Helps Kids Deal With Grief Of Parents' Deaths

Roosevelt Univ. Program In Its 4th Year

Reporting
Suzanne Le Mignot

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: As part of a grief counseling camp, 40 children released balloons at Buckingham Fountain, with notes attached for parents they lost.
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A lot of kids are at summer camp this week, and many of those camps have their specialties.

But CBS 2's Suzanne LeMignot reports one camp at Roosevelt University is unlike any other.

As 40 children released balloons at Buckingham Fountain downtown Wednesday, there were cheers amid moments of intense emotion.

Each balloon had a message of love attached to it -- the notes were for a mother or father who has passed away.

Camper Davonte Grangent's mother died just six months ago.

"I writed to her that I wish that she could come back," he said.

Through the Hands Together, Heart to Art program, children learn to cope with the loss of a parent.

"There's meaning in the fact that we can all look around and you're not alone anymore," said camp director Nicole Losurdo.

In his note, 11-year-old Benton Belzer caught his dad up on what he's been up to in the four years since his father passed away.

"How I saw a shooting star and that, and how I want to get rid of all my fears and stuff," Belzer said.

Marian Williams lost both of her parents four years ago.

"They're not gonna be able to see me graduate," she said. "My dad, especially, he's not gonna be able to walk me down the aisle, when I get married, so it's hard."

A team of licensed clinical social workers counsel the children during the two-week camp.

Williams said she's learned to be a role model for others.

"I just try to be a good example for them and let them grow up, not going to jail or anything, just to grow up being a good person and helping other people," she said.

This is the fourth year for the camp held at Roosevelt University. Kids between the ages of 7 and 14 are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis through churches, community groups and schools.

They take part in everything from music and dance to acting and juggling, along with sharing their feelings.

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