Comfort Zone Camp’s “Hello Grief” Initiative

The Challenge

Childhood bereavement is one of society's most chronically painful, yet rarely examined phenomena. In a death-phobic and grief-averse society, kids who lose loved ones get the message early on that people are uncomfortable talking about their loss, so often they suffer in silence.With no in-depth, generally accepted body of knowledge regarding the nature and effects of childhood bereavement, Comfort Zone Camp, the nation’s largest provide of free bereavement camps for kids, set out to ignite a national, ongoing conversation on childhood bereavement through smart, groundbreaking national research and a powerful advocacy campaign.

The Solution

Together with Tiller, Comfort Zone Camp developed the first-ever national research on the effects of childhood loss, probing the general population, those who lost a parent/sibling before age 20 and CZC parents and campers for their perspective on the issue. Another cornerstone of the campaign was the creation of a new website— Hello Grief— intended to start a discussion about the impact of loss, provide information on how to help grieving families cope, and build a community of support.

The Results

The research revealed that the burden of childhood loss is immense and the frequency all too common as one in nine Americans reported losing a parent before the age of 20. Consider too that among adults who lost a parent growing up, more than half (57%) said they would trade a year of their life for one more day with their parent and 73% believe their life would have been “much better” if their parent hadn’t died so young.

The research attracted high profile media attention including a cover story in the Wall Street Journal’s Personal Journal section, a lead story on CNNHealth.com that attracted 500+ comments from readers, a moving piece on AOL’s ParentDish and an upcoming segment on The Today Show. Lynne Hughes, founder of Comfort Zone Camp, will also be submitting a series of blog posts on childhood bereavement for The Huffington Post. Her first post can be read here.   

Since the launch of the campaign, Hello Grief has attracted nearly 23,000 visitors and 250+ campers have signed up to attend camp.

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