MercerJennifer Mercer, director of development for Care Camps, recently appeared in a Q&A with Authority Magazine. Care Camps is an organization that helps children struggling with the emotional devastation of cancer to experience the healing power of nature and “the ability to just be a kid again.”
Below is a brief excerpt from the interview.
Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was blessed to be born into a family where giving back and service were taught as important values. Thanks to many great examples in my life, I became involved in non-profits and volunteering at a young age, and later in my career had the privilege of leading a non-profit organization that was able to serve our region in significant ways. Once you catch that bug for “giving back”, it is impossible to give up, and I was blessed to have a Care Camps board member remember me from prior work and recommend me for the job. Helping children with cancer find hope and healing in the midst of the hardest time of their life has been an absolute joy, and I am so lucky to be able to serve this amazing charity.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
I think the most impactful experience I have had was sitting down with some of the kids with cancer that our charity serves, and talking with them about their cancer journey. We talked about their favorite things about camp, and why it is so important to them. I learned that, “Camp is better than Disneyland” partly because it is so fun and allows them to forget about all the “hard stuff” and just be a kid again, but mostly because it offers them a chance to be around other kids who understand exactly what they are going through. At camp they build friendships that help them get through the hardest times and offer a support system year-round.
The most difficult part of the conversation came when I asked them “What has been the hardest part of your cancer journey?” Their answers blew me away. One child said “That’s pretty easy. I think it is knowing I destroyed my entire family’s life”, which was followed by a chorus of “me, too”s. What I did not yet understand was that parents of kids with cancer have almost a 90 percent divorce rate, and many of these children feel responsible for that divorce. One child said, “If I hadn’t gotten cancer, my parents would still be together.” On that day I learned that these kids are dealing with more than we can possibly imagine, from fear of death, to fear that they will survive only to have their cancer return, to overwhelming sadness and loneliness from the isolation that is a product of their disease. The opportunity to laugh together and smile again at camp meant more to them than I had ever understood before.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Oh goodness, this is embarrassing. When I first started, I had an incredibly intense travel schedule, frequently traveling all over the country from one event or meeting to the next, and I was working very long hours. I made the mistake of falling asleep on a flight and woke up with my head lying on the total stranger seated next to me. The small wet spot on his shirt told me that not only had I been sleeping on him, but I had been drooling too! The lesson learned was pretty simple: No matter how tired you are, never, ever fall asleep on a flight.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
Kids with cancer face unimaginable emotional challenges both during and after treatment. While hospitals work to achieve physical healing, Care Camps is an organization dedicated to helping these kids find the kind of emotional healing that can only happen outside a hospital. Through Care Camps, kids with cancer are able to experience the healing power of the outdoors, laughing and playing with other kids who understand exactly what it is like to face this illness. While at their Care Camp, kids with cancer learn to replace their fear with bravery, their sadness with joy, and their loneliness with friendship. Children can forget about the chemo, the radiation, and all the hard stuff that comes with cancer and just be a kid again.
Read the full interview with Mercer here.
