Camp Good Grief helps children cope with loss of loved ones

Camp Good Grief offers kids music, kayaking and fishing – but also a place of comfort and solace.

News 12 Staff

Jul 21, 2021, 7:39 PM

Updated 1,190 days ago

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A unique summer camp in Center Moriches helps children cope with the loss of a loved one.
Camp Good Grief offers music, kayaking and fishing – but also a place of comfort and solace.
It’s a bereavement camp for kids who have lost parents, siblings or other loved ones.
Liam McAllister is a 12-year-old attendee who looks forward to coming each summer.
“A few years ago when I was in second grade, I lost my daddy to a heart attack,” says Liam. “I miss him a lot.”
Staff members assist children in working through their grief by providing art and music therapy classes. They say time with other children going through similar circumstances helps, too.
Throughout the years, thousands of children have attended the Center Moriches camp free of charge, thanks to generous donors.
Liam tells News 12 the camp has helped him tremendously, saying in part, “It helps by making you feel like you're not alone. When it first happened to me, I was like, 'Why me, why did this happen to me?' But ever since I came here, I realized it didn't just happen to me…it happened to all these other people. I feel like they understand.”