RALEIGH -- Comfort Zone Camp, a nonprofit program that helps children deal with the loss of a loved one, is coming to Raleigh.
The free events mix the fun of a weekend camp with grief counseling for children ages 7 through 17 (18 if in high school) whose parents or siblings have died.
The Raleigh version will take place Sept. 25 at the RBC Center, offering a day of games interspersed with optional therapeutic discussions. Free child care is available for children under 5, and Comfort Zone is hosting a parents counseling session during the children's camp.
The daylong format is a departure from the group's typical three-day sessions hosted periodically over weekends year-round. Begun in 1998, Comfort Zone Camp offers programs in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and its home state of Virginia.
Providing tools
The Raleigh mini-camp came about after so many Triangle residents kept making the drive to the group's events in Richmond, Va., said Lynne Hughes, the group's founder.
"Children tend to become miniature adults after the death of a parent," said Hughes. "It changes their carefree childhood. The mindless, wear-'em-out fun of the camps lets them be kids again."
Few know this better than Hughes, who lost both parents by age 12. Her mother, Marilynn Barribeau, passed away in 1974 from a blood clot in her leg, while her father Skip was taken by a heart attack in 1976.
Hughes said attending summer camp during college gave her an escape from her sadness, an outlet she now tries to provide for others. The typical camp offers staples like s'mores, swimming, and tag with "healing discussion circles" around the campfire and personal "big buddy" counselors for each of the 65 children who attend.
"The camp is designed to give kids tools to cope," Hughes said. "The kids come back visibly lighter in load."
Lauren Cope, 24, said she remembers the relief she felt after volunteering as a "Big Buddy" counselor at the Richmond camp in 2007. After losing her 15-year-old brother Austin in a car accident the year before, Cope said she helped herself by supporting those younger than she.
Cope, who lives in Raleigh, now credits her continuing work as a camp volunteer as a way of accepting the loss of her sibling.
"It was nice being with people who had experienced the same loss I had," she said. "It is enlightening and makes you a stronger person."
Karen Hoeve, a Raleigh mother who lost her husband, Johann, to a heart attack last year, said the Richmond camp has gradually helped her daughters, Anne Marie, 11, and Indy, 8. After their first trip in 2009, the girls returned in June so excited that Anne Marie requested nothing besides donations to camp for her latest birthday.
"It has been such a positive experience it makes me think I'm doing everything I can to help them grieve appropriately," Hoeve said.
'A huge difference'
Hughes, Comfort Zone's creator, said she hopes the Raleigh day camp will lead to a weekend-long version in the future.
The group is raising money for its initial foray into the Triangle through a charity golf tournament Sept. 20 at Brier Creek Country Club.
The event will be sponsored by the insurance company New York Life.
Too many don't get attention, said Kent Kluba, a New York Life committee member behind the tournament. "This makes a huge difference in people's lives."
