One of the most common questions I hear when I tell people I run a non-profit for grieving kids is, “what made you start it?” They usually ask with a preemptively empathetic tone, assuming my story will begin with someone dying. But here’s how the story actually begins…
How It Started
In 2008, I was laid off from Morgan Stanley while eight months pregnant with my first child. For the first time in my carefully planned life, I didn’t know the next step. I never imagined that this period of emotional chaos would become a turning point.
Experience Camps for Grieving Children began at Camp Manitou for Boys, Maine USA, an overnight summer camp in Maine. My husband, Jon Deren, attended Manitou as a child and eventually became a co-owner and director. We met in business school in 2003, and I quickly became smitten with him—and with the magic of camp.
Unlike Jon, I didn’t grow up going to camp. But as I immersed myself in the experience, I saw what I’d missed: camp was a place where kids could be their best selves, free to play, compete, take risks, and solve problems.
But there was a catch.
These extraordinary experiences were accessible primarily to families who could afford them. That realization, combined with my unexpected career transition, sparked an idea. When I approached my husband about using Manitou to give back, he responded with confident simplicity: “Let’s start a nonprofit.”
Then came grief.
Circle of Tapawingo, a grief camp for girls in Maine was looking for a boys’ camp to host the brothers of their campers. In August 2009, we opened our gates to 27 boys and 30 volunteer counselors. Every moment of that summer changed my life forever. The final campfire of the week especially stands out. It was raw and emotional, and by the end of it, most of the kids were sobbing. I thought we had broken them. The other directors and I followed the campers back to their bunks to do “damage control,” only to find them laughing, playing, and somehow lighter than they’d been a few hours earlier.
In that moment, I learned to trust the process. The kids will move between the heavy and the happy, and it’s our job to create the space for both. We’ve been creating that space ever since.
The growth we have experienced since then has been extraordinary:
– From 27 campers to 1,500 this summer
– From 1 camp in Maine to 7 locations nationwide
– A lasting impact on countless lives
Along the way, we realized that our community of grievers wasn’t defined by the physical boundaries of camp. As hard as we try, we’ll never be able to bring all grieving children to camp. But I believe we can bring a bit of camp to all of them. We’re now developing digital platforms and innovative programs to ensure every grieving child can experience the sense of community and belonging that defines Experience Camps.
I had no idea that an unexpected detour back in 2008 would lead me here. When I lost my job, I thought I had lost my way. Instead, I found it.
Sara Deren is the founder and CEO of Experience Camps. Under her leadership, Experience Camps has conducted original research on the state of grief and launched a national network of programs and platforms for grieving kids and teens. She received her MBA from Columbia, and blends her background of 12 years in finance and business with her passion for the mission. In 2020, she received an award for “Best Entrepreneurial, Scaling” from Connecticut Entrepreneur Awards, and was named a “Patriots Difference Maker” by The Krafts Family and Patriots Foundation. Sara was named by Causeartist one of 32 nonprofit leaders who will impact the world in 2022 and was a 2023 mentor at the SXSW festival.
