WOW! It has been a fast, but AMAZING summer for Kids Rock Cancer — where did the time go?! So many wonderful things happened this summer, including songwriting sessions at four area camps.
A note from Kids Rock Cancer’s senior music therapist, Tracie Sandheinrich
“I’d like to extend a special thank you to all of our camp partners who welcome KRC back into programming every year! We will continue growing in hopes to serve as many patients, siblings, survivors and families as possible for many years to come! Please take a peek at some great pictures from this year’s camps and listen to one of our 2018 camp songs, ‘We Are the Future,’ written by this year’s Camp Quality group. It’s safe to say we totally ROCKED OUT this summer!”
(More story after the photos)
June
We kicked off the summer at Camp Quality in St. Clair. This was Kids Rock Cancer’s first time at Camp Quality, which supports children with cancer and their families. Its programs promote hope and inspiration while letting kids be kids again.
Our Kids Rock Cancer songwriting session had 13 participants, ages 12-29, who worked together to produce and record a beautiful song called “We Are the Future,” reminding us all that each child, whether a patient or a sibling, has a voice.
July
In July, we participated in two great programs: Camp Rainbow’s all-new SIBS Camp at Camp Manitowa and Camp Crescent, a program sponsored by St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Trout Lodge for children and teens with sickle cell disease.
Camp Manitowa, in Cedar Point, Illinois, provides an opportunity for siblings of patients to share their stories and bond with others facing similar challenges from a family member’s cancer diagnosis. Our songwriting session had 14 participants, ages 6-14, who produced and recorded an amazing hit, “Get to Know Me Better.”
“So often a sibling’s story is forgotten or goes unacknowledged while so much focus is on the patient,” senior music therapist Tracie Sandheinrich says. “These campers wanted to make it known that cancer can take the whole family for a wild ride, and that the siblings still shine in their own kind of light.”
Kids Rock Cancer has been a longtime participant at Camp Crescent, held annually in Potosi, Missouri. Our songwriting session there had 29 participants, ages 8-14. This large group worked together to produce and record a power anthem called “I’ll Fly Right Through It.”
“These campers are tough and not afraid to show it,” Sandheinrich says. “It’s unimaginable, what these children go through dealing with chronic pain, but they refuse to let it take them down!”
Kids Rock Cancer closed out its summer camp season at Camp HIS KIDS, help at Camp Wartburg near Waterloo, Illinois.
Camp HIS KIDS provides support programs for kids in treatment, siblings and leaders-in-training. It’s a close-knit, family-oriented camp filled with veteran campers who’ve been coming for years. Kids Rock Cancer held three songwriting sessions (one for each type of camper). With 32 participants, ages 7-16, we were able to produce and record three wonderful songs, “Precious Cinnamon Rolls,” “Open Your Eyes” and “We Are Survivors.”
“How touching it was to hear all the thoughts and emotions that were compiled to make such beautiful, inspiring music,” Sandheinrich says.