Making memes to make his students laugh may be what science teacher Jacob Klein is known for at school, but when the last bell rings for the school year, Klein takes making kids smile to the next level. He swaps out his safety goggles and lab coat for sunglasses and hiking shoes to give back and help kids with cancer live their lives to the fullest by volunteering at the Heartland Chapter of Camp Quality in Fremont, Neb.
Camp Quality, an international non-profit organization, is a camp designed for kids ages 5 to 17 who have cancer or are cancer survivors. The free camp provides those children and those who love them with programs, experiences, and companionship to inspire hope while helping them develop life skills and reach their full potential.
Klein has been volunteering for the camp since 2017, but has been involved in it since he was a kid.
“My uncle actually helped start the Heartland chapter back in 1994,” Klein said. “I’ve always known about Camp Quality, ever since I was a kid. When I turned 18, I immediately started volunteering for Camp Quality. I’ve been volunteering ever since.”
They have around 30 kids per week-long session. During that time, Klein spends his time ensuring the campers he is paired up with have the best time possible.
“I am what we call a companion,” Klein said. “I am paired with a camper or two, and it is my job to make sure that they are safe, that they have fun and that they enjoy their entire camp experience.”
His first year volunteering at the camp, he met a 4-year-old named Jace who was diagnosed with brain cancer when he was around 1½.
“As early as he could, he got involved with our camp, and he was the most boisterous little four-year-old that I’ve ever seen, ” Klein said. “He wanted to do everything, wanted to rough house with everybody, wanted to try and do everything that his older brothers did.”
Jace was a big World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fan, and John Cena was his idol. At the end of every camp session, they held a dance for the campers.
“As a special occasion for the dance, we played John Cena’s intro theme, and Jace walked into the entire dance to the walkout song, doing the ‘you can’t see me’ hand motion of John Cena, and we gave him a belt that said that he beat cancer, it was half the size of his body,” Klein said. “He wore that with pride, and I’ll never forget how cool it was to see a kid like Jace, who had gone through so much and was just so eager to do everything.”
After being in remission for almost 4 years, Jace’s cancer came back.
“Unfortunately, Jace’s cancer did come back when he was about seven years old,” Klein said. “He fought it for two years, and ultimately lost his battle and passed away when he was nine years old. But for the time that I knew him, I’ll never forget him for my very first year at camp.”
While Klein took Jace’s death hard and there have been several heartwrenching instances like Jace’s, he continues to volunteer there year after year. Klein’s camper from last year, Elias, has a similar story to Jace.
“The kids Camp Quality serves have a tangible and constant reminder of how short and valuable life can be,” Klein said. “It is Camp Quality’s mission to make the time we have with our campers as enjoyable and memorable as possible; I am grateful to be a part of that mission and in the lives of all of our campers.”
The camp has activities like swimming, archery, arts and crafts, campfires and more. However, Klein isn’t just involved in Camp Quality for one week, though.
“Outside of the actual week of camp, I help on our camp Planning Committee, planning events, reunions, fundraising events and coordinating donations and sponsors for all of our events,” Klein said.
For Klein, the hard work he dedicates to the camp pays off with the joy he brings to the kids and the satisfaction of knowing he is helping those in need.
“I would say for this particular volunteer opportunity, the charity shows you how deserving these kids are and how difficult their lives can be,” Klein said. “It gives you a lot of perspective in recognizing how little you have to truly worry about and how easy your life is. Being able to give back to somebody that might be experiencing something a little bit harder than you is rewarding. But it also shows you how incredibly brave that these kids are, and that’s a very inspiring thing.”
