North Berwick’s Camp Kita recently announced its tuition for the 2015 campers will be free because of diligent fundraising and generous donors.

Camp Kita is a week-long overnight camp for children 8-17 years old who have lost a parent or loved one to suicide, according to a news release from the camp.

Those grieving a loss by suicide experience a unique grief, but the stigma attached to taking one’s own life often leaves these survivors silenced. Camp Kita, founded by the Mosher siblings 10 years after their father’s suicide, is a recreational and therapeutic summer camp focused on child survivors, according to the release.

In its second year, Camp Kita provides a safe, nurturing environment where child survivors can connect with one another while learning constructive ways to deal with the often unspeakable and fierce emotion of losing a parent or other loved one to suicide. By creating a space for child survivors, the camp effectively eases the stigma around what it means to have lost a loved one to suicide. The campers’ shared loss and experience affords them the opportunity of forming deep, knowing bonds with others and thereby forging supportive connections that hopefully will last a lifetime. As a community of survivors, the camp’s week-long focus is to provide and explore constructive forms of self-expression. Campers practice self-awareness as a way of identifying feelings and communicating them in a focused way. The camp’s focus on grief — on shattering apart — dovetails with an equally important focus on hope — the power and purpose of piecing oneself together. Most importantly, the camp empowers campers to utilize the tools and resources provided so that they may draw upon them throughout their lives … and campers have fun, according to the release.

The camp will welcome its second season of campers Aug. 16-23 to the shores of Thompson Lake in Poland. For more information or to register a camper, visit campkita.com or email info@campkita.org.

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