Earning Credit
Community service appeals to nursing students
By John Koloen
In many ways, it was like any weekend camp—a gathering of girls ages 5 and older, and their parents, assisted by volunteer counselors in their early 20s. Some might even call it a weekend escape for the parents who were encouraged to ride horses, paddle canoes and otherwise let the volunteers mind the children while the moms and dads focused on fun.
But it wasn’t like most weekend escapes. The volunteers on this October weekend were nursing students from UTMB and the children were cancer patients attending Camp Cliff, sponsored by the Candlelighter’s Childhood Cancer Family Alliance. The site of the camp was Camp For All in the rolling hills near Burton where the June Rusche Hamrah Camp For All, a camping and retreat facility for persons with special needs is located.
Despite attending training for the camp, students Jessica Bateman, Chanelle Clerc, Victoria Freeman and Maria Camat weren’t sure what to expect. Only Bateman and Freeman knew the ages of the campers they’d be working with. Freeman and Bateman spent the weekend with 5- and 6-year olds while Camat was in charge of a group of 12-14-year olds. Clerc worked with 10-11-year olds.
On their way to the camp, located about halfway between Houston and Austin, Freeman said that “the tone in the car was energetic, though I could not tell if we were more excited or nervous.” The students selected the camp as part of a community service component for a course on palliative care taught by School of Nursing instructor Julie Lindsay. The course requires students to perform 40 hours of community service. Susan Grinslade, SON baccalaureate program director, is co-coordinator of the course.
In addition to creating banners to welcome the youngsters, the four UTMB students hosted their charges at a bonfire where the children made s’mores and shared cabins with them for the weekend.
Lindsay said the students got as much out of the camp as the children they helped. “It’s truly life-changing,” she said. “The parents were so excited to have nursing students with their children.”
“Words can’t express my experience at the camp,” Camat said. “Some of the girls told me that attending camp helps them and their family to relieve the pain, sadness and stress that they go through when they’re in the hospital or when they’re at home.”
The community service and good feelings didn’t end at the camp. On Oct. 28, Lindsay and nine nursing students volunteered at the Our Lady of St. John Fall Festival in Houston. The Candlelighters were hosts to children with cancer and cancer survivors at this event.
“We enjoyed having them at the festival and they helped out so much,” said Kay Kempken, a board member of Candlelighters CCFA. “We did not have as many parent volunteers this year, so these nursing students really helped. They arrived in time to help us set up, they ran the popcorn machine and the snow cone machine and they stayed to help us tear down. They were fantastic!”