What is Camp Good Grief?

Camp Good Grief is a three-day camp experience for children and teens 9-16 years old who have had a sibling or parent die. It provides the place and space for children and teens to come together in an atmosphere of love and acceptance. The purpose of Camp Good Grief is: For children and teens to meet others their own ages who are also learning about and understanding their grief. The second is to run, play, laugh, and be themselves--to really have a great time! By meeting others like themselves, they discover that they can share the same feelings and that those feelings are normal and okay. When a child or teen grieves alone, he or she may not realize that the feelings they experience at different times during the grief process are common--they are natural and normal. It is very important to understand that what is happening to them happens to others also. Their pain is understood here and accepted.

Our purpose is to make a difference during one of the most critical times in a child's or teen's life. Childhood grief left to itself can grow to become one of the most destructive adult burdens.

Poem

This is a work selected as being a good representation of our goal.

"A child can live through anything so long as he or she is told the truth and is allowed to share with loved ones the natural feelings people have when they are suffering."

Eda Le Shan
Camp staff

Camp staff

• Child life specialists
• Child life assistants
• Loma Linda University marriage and family professionals
• Pediatric doctors and nurses
• Social workers
• Youth chaplains and clergy
• Grief specialists
• University students in child and health related fields

Location

Various camp/conference centers in the Southern California area. For more information, contact Dinah Evans, Camp Good Grief director at (909) 558-8212.

Camp activities

• Grief activity sessions - Feelings wheel, memory boxes, and planting trees--that help the child/teen to understand, cope, and feel their grief
• Camp fire fun - Games, roast marshmallows, sing songs, and act out skits
• Art activity - Ceramics, arts, and crafts
• Group games - Archery, swimming, hiking, canoeing, treasure hunt, etc.
• Ropes course - A cooperative team building experience
• Nondenominational morning prayer and music

Importance of camp

The camp will provide a relaxed, supportive, open, and safe environment for your child or teen to enjoy the typical activities of a summer camp, as well as to have opportunities to work with professionals to share their feelings related to their loss and learn new ways to cope. Truth, trust, and TLC is our motto.

Sarah expresses what camp did for her. She was sad before camp and she left camp happy.		A camper illustrates how camp helped her understand and express her feelings. The picture shows her brother, Josh, a camp counselor, and herself.

More information

For further information and reservations please contact Loma Linda University Children's Hospital at 1 (800) 825-KIDS, or you can write to:

Loma Linda University
Children's Hospital
Camp Good Grief, Room 2803
11234 Anderson Street
Loma Linda, CA 92354

Camp Good Grief application - English (PDF)
Camp Good Grief application - Spanish (PDF)


Camp Good Grief is sponsored by Loma Linda University Children's Hospital foundation; which is A Seventh-day Adventist institution. We would like to let you know that there is a Christian component to this camp. Our mission at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital is 'to make man whole.' We realize that each of us may have individual religious beliefs that define our spiritual 'wholeness' and we respect each other's diversity and differences.

All costs of transportation, meals, accommodations, and activities of the camp are provided by Loma Linda University Children's Hospital Foundation FREE of charge.