Teen Attended Special Camp to Work Through His Grief. Now He’s Paying it Forward as a Volunteer (Exclusive)

Conversations and emotions surrounding death can be difficult, especially for children and adolescents. But there is a nationwide camp that helps them broach the subject.

Founded in 2012, Camp Kangaroo is a free bereavement camp funded through the Seasons Hospice Foundation for minors who have experienced the death of a loved one.

The youngsters who attend the camp, which is run in partnership with AccentCare, “receive grief education and emotional support” combined with fun camp activities as they cope with the loss.

The goal of Camp Kangaroo is to help minors “speak to the emotions that they are sustaining or experiencing” and have conversations about death that they are typically excluded from, Yelena Zatulovsky, vice president of patient experience with AccentCare, tells PEOPLE.

“One of the very key things about Camp Kangaroo is this concept that [campers] shouldn't feel alone,” she continues. “They should have a safe space to express and then learn how to cope with some of those emotions.”

Kids ages 5 to 17 can take part in the camp, which runs in about a dozen states across the country, according to Zatulovsky.

Camp Kangaroo also helps adults who may not know how to approach the subjects of death and grief with children, according to Arielle Brown, Camp Director for Camp Kangaroo in San Pedro, Calif.

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“It's really just a building block for these children to be able to move forward in a better, healing and meaningful way through this experience,” Brown tells PEOPLE.

Campers are split up by age and developmental group, and participate in eight sessions of camp, Zatulovsky says. Some camps have as few as 10 attendees, while some can have up to 50 or 60.

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Each of the sessions focus on different issues such as change, illness, fears about death and moving forward with grief, Zatulovsky says.

There is also an “Ask the Doctor” session where the on-site doctor “will answer every single question that a minor may have” so they “can openly start asking questions” without the pressure of doing so publicly, Zatulovsky says.

Additionally, Camp Kangaroo has adult sessions where parents can “learn how to help continue” children and adolescents find healing.

Mari Jones, of Clearwater, Fla., sent four of her six children — ages 4, 8, 10 and 12 — to Camp Kangaroo in Tampa this November, just months after the death of her husband and their father.

Jones, 45, tells PEOPLE she felt “it was important for them to see other kids and other families that went through similar situations so that they didn't feel isolated.”

The kids participated in various forms of music, art and other creative therapies while surrounded by people who were knowledgeable about handling grief.

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“Sometimes I don't know how to handle it all,” Jones admits. "So I felt like they were given tools that were helpful.”

Alejandro Zavala, a Camp Kangaroo counselor in South Florida, says kids are often seen as resilient, but are usually just in survival mode. But staff members work hard to “break that myth” with both parents and kids.

“We have to make it easy for those who are taking care of us to make sure that we don't become too much for them to be able to deal with us,” explains Zavala, 37, adding that “it is okay to grieve.”

Some campers have even gone on to become what are known as "roo buddies," who are volunteers that work directly with campers and support the counselors throughout the camps.

Dylan Goldberger, 18, previously attended a San Diego camp before becoming a roo buddy,

“I really wanted to give back to the kids the same way that they did that the counselors who helped me did," Goldberger tells PEOPLE.

“I found it to be a very positive experience,” Goldberger says of his time as a camper. “I think it helped me to grow as a person, and I take the things that I learned then and still implement them today.”

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This fall, the 18-year-old worked as a roo buddy with the San Diego camp. He enjoyed seeing the transformation in the campers he worked with, and hopes to return as a counselor in the future.

“The most rewarding part is just knowing that you're making an impact in these kids' lives, in some way or another,” Goldberger says. “Whether they remember your name in a few years doesn't really matter. Just knowing that you're helping them become better people and handling their grief in better ways.”

Attending Camp Kangaroo comes at no cost to parents and guardians, making it an accessible resource for youngsters from all economic backgrounds. And the skills learned at the camp last a lifetime.

Kids often attend camp multiple times. Jones tells PEOPLE she plans to bring her four children back to the Tampa camp next year.

“I hope that it's something that they look forward to every year so that they're like, ‘Oh, yeah, there is something for me,’ ” she explains. “Maybe not all the time, but there's always something or someone that they can connect with.”

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In the meantime, organizers are looking to spread the word about their work. “This isn't a competition. We want to be a resource, a tool,” Brown says. “And the same way when this is done, we plan to offer those resources. It doesn't stop here.”

To find a Camp Kangaroo in your area, visit seasonsfoundation.org/camp-kangaroo/.

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