Losing a loved one is a difficult challenge for anyone to overcome – especially when you're a kid.

Camp Good Mourning is helping Long Island children with their grief. A free, overnight retreat for children ages 7 to 17 processing a significant loss, like a sibling or a parent.

Sydney Christ, 10, lost her mom from breast cancer in 2022.

“It’s a mom, you know. Girls can’t do the same stuff with their dad because they are definitely two different people,” said Christ.

Paul Rubin says he founded the nonprofit out of necessity. For years, he traveled to different states as a grief counselor to help at different camps. He took the best elements of each, he says, and created Camp Good Mourning. The camp is offered in the spring and fall, when most camps are not offered.

Campers participate in support groups with others their age and camp counselors, many of whom have either been in the campers’ shoes or are social workers - or both. They stay two nights with the hope of meeting and bonding with other their age.

To find out about the 2024 camps, click here.