July 18, 2025

Uncovering the Mysteries of Grief at Amanda the Panda Day Camp in Creston

“It's the great mystery of human life that old grief passes gradually into quiet, tender joy.”

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

Dealing with grief and coming to accept loss in life is never easy at any age, but for youth it can be an impossible journey to navigate alone.  Solving the mysteries of loss was the theme of EveryStep’s Amanda the Panda recent day camp in Creston – “Uncovering Grief."

The goal of the camp, Amanda the Panda staff say, was to teach kids new and fun coping skills for handling “big emotions” that accompany any journey through grief.  “Campers discussed strategies such as breathing techniques, exercises, journaling and physical ways to release pent up emotions,” says Amanda the Panda Rural Schools Program Coordinator Vanissa Spencer, who helped lead the camp, “They also shared the people in their support system and what each individual does to support them."

15 campers were joined by 12 volunteers and Amanda the Panda staff for the daylong event at Trinity Lutheran Church in Creston.  Both those numbers were an increase from the previous year’s Creston-area camp, but “of course, we would love to have more of each, but we did grow our numbers from last year's camp!”, says Spencer.

“The mystery theme was all about discovering new coping strategies and taking a closer look at the support systems they have,” said Spencer – who many campers know better as ‘Mrs. V’, “At this year's camp the campers made their own grief toolkit. They were able to fill their toolkit with things like fidgets, aromatherapy, a music playlist, bubbles, playdoh, etc. These things can be used when big emotions become overwhelming, and they need something tangible to help them get through.”

Amanda the Panda staff members say the response from campers, parents and volunteers was enthusiastically positive.  “They made some powerful connections with peers! The parents were thankful that Amanda the Panda offers this camp each year and said that their children enjoyed the day,” says Spencer.

On social media, parents said “our kids had a wonderful time”, “my kiddo had a great time and talked about it all night long!”, and “Thank you thank you so much for doing this camp!!!”