The camp, Helping Hearts Heal, is for children grades kindergarten through 12th grade who have experienced the death of a loved one.

The activities will help participants understand their feelings and show them they are not alone in their grief. The loved one could be a parent, grandparent, friend or someone else who died.

The camp will be from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. May 21, with registration beginning at 9 a.m. at Brookside Education Center, 211 W. Richway Drive.

Hospice Director Marcia Smith said this will be the second time for the camp, which is sponsored with money donated from the Kiester for a Cure fundraiser. The camp was held the first time two years ago.

Smith and Jackie Carstens, medical social worker, said there are different activities planned to help the participants, including a climbing wall, a campfire, rock decorating, making bracelets and an ice cream social, to name a few.

“We have different activities to help show them that their feelings are normal and OK,” Smith said.

Children will participate in different activities based on age.

Others that will be involved include Scott Hanna with Albert Lea Community Education; Lilah Aas and Judy Popp-Anderson, Hospice bereavement volunteers; Rose Olmsted, a former social worker with Freeborn County; and Deb Helmick-Biglow, Hospice bereavement coordinator. Depending on the children involved, there will be other volunteers as well.

Smith said she was impressed with watching the transformation of some of the children at the previous camp. She said some children would come who didn’t want to talk to anyone, but by the end of the day they ended up opening up.

For more information or registration materials, call the Hospice Office at 377-6393. Registrations are due May 7.

Helping Hearts Heal is offered free of charge through the donations from Kiester for a Cure and others donating to Mayo Clinic Health System Hospice.

If you go

What: Helping Hearts Heal

Who: Children grades kindergarten through 12th who have experienced death of a loved one

When: May 21

Information: Registration due May 7