Paying it Forward: A Legacy Gift Honors the Past and the Future of Camp

Kelly Kalt spent every summer from ages 11 to 17 at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a SeriousFun camp in Ashford, Connecticut. Below, her parents, Hank and Kathy Kalt, share their inspiring decision to include SeriousFun in their estate plans in Kelly’s memory.

SeriousFun: What inspired you to leave a legacy gift to SeriousFun?

Hank & Kathy Kalt: The transformative experience our daughter, Kelly, had at camp.

Imagine you’ve just learned that your child has cancer.  Then, imagine a social worker telling you that your child now qualifies to attend The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, like she’s just won a prize. 

Leave our daughter at camp?  With strangers?  We didn’t want to give up one moment of time with our daughter.

With great trepidation, we headed to Ashford. The camp magic began at the gate, where we were greeted with fanfare by counselors. Other campers’ parents assured us that our daughter would have a great time. 

We dropped off a child with cancer, and the child we picked up was no longer defined by her illness. 

Kelly loved camp so much that she cried the whole way home. She was really a different kid when she came back from camp the first time. No amount of therapy or trips or anything we could and did do, could have had such a wonderful effect.

And the impact was lasting. After Kelly died, we received a letter from a camper who went on to become an oncologist because of Kelly (talk about a lasting impression!) We feel certain that Kelly would want us to do whatever we can to help more kids have the camp experience she did, and we know that through its network of camps like The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, SeriousFun can help our contribution do just that.

SeriousFun: How does it feel to contribute this lasting gift in Kelly’s honor?

Hank & Kathy Kalt: I wish we could give more. We were all transformed through Kelly’s experience at camp. 

In various cancer group therapy sessions with other parents, I used to say that having a child with cancer is like walking through a door into a different world from which there is no escape. And like any new world, there are good things and bad things.

But camp was the best thing.

"We once asked Kelly whether kids talked about having cancer at camp. She replied, ‘We don't need to.’ That is the ultimate benefit of camp. Kids can just be kids."

What would you say to someone considering including SeriousFun Children’s Network in their will?

Everyone’s situation is different, and leaving such a gift is a deeply personal decision. I would tell them to think about the laughter of children who have had the worst kind of bad luck. There really is nothing more beautiful or sacred than that. 

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The Kalt family’s generosity will not only preserve the life-changing magic of camp for future generations but will also honor Kelly’s memory by continuing the joy she found there. To discover how your estate plans can create a meaningful impact for children with serious illnesses, just like Hank and Kathy Kalt’s, please reach out to Jessica Summers.

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