Four Seasons becomes summer camp for cancer patients
Superman and his friends lined the red carpet Sunday to welcome some of MD Anderson Cancer Center’s youngest patients to a unique summer camp experience.
Camp H-Town, an urban camp for pediatric cancer patients and their siblings, returned in person at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston for the first time since 2019. The camp, which is free for the children’s families, features six days of activities, all under the supervision of MD Anderson doctors and nurses, hotel staff and volunteers.
The camp is a unique experience for children who have been diagnosed with a range of cancers, including leukemia, brain tumors and bone cancer, said Dr. Douglas Harrison, the center medical director for MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital. Some of the children will go to MD Anderson for treatment while the camp is taking place.
“It gives them a sense of normalcy,” Harrison said. “They can be kids as they’re literally fighting for their lives.”
The camp provides a safe experience for children who are unable to go away to summer camp, Harrison said. MD Anderson doctors and nurses stay at the Four Seasons at all times to provide medical care if needed.
During Camp H-Town, the hotel's ninth floor is transformed into a “campground” for the children, complete with bunk beds and camping supplies. The campers get to enjoy some of the traditional activities that are part of summer camp – such as swimming and arts and crafts — and will be treated to field trips in the Houston area.
There are 33 campers taking part in this year’s camp, roughly half of them siblings of pediatric cancer patients. Some of those siblings lost a brother or sister to cancer recently, said Tom Segesta, the general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel Houston.
“We found a need this year that these siblings really needed an opportunity to go to camp and be children,” Segesta said.
The theme of this year’s camp is “Everyday Heroes,” to recognize Houston's first responders. The camp is decorated with posters of superheroes like Spider-Man and Batman. Counselors and volunteers dressed in superhero garb to greet the children as they arrived on Sunday morning.
“It feels really good,” said Christian Garcia, a 7-year-old boy from Houston. “It feels like they’re really superheroes.”
Christian — whose favorite superheroes are Batman, the Flash and the Green Lantern — was 6 when he was diagnosed with a rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of cancer that forms in soft tissue. His cancer is now in remission.
For the children, the camp is also an opportunity to meet and connect with other kids who are living with cancer.
“I’ve never really met anybody, or siblings, who are going through the same thing, or sort of the same thing as me,” said Akilah Lopez, 13, who was diagnosed in 2020 with acute lymphoblastic
lymphoma.
Akilah, who lives in Pearland and loves Marvel superheroes like Wanda Maximoff and Spider-Man, said she’s excited to be part of the camp and looking forward to the food, swimming and activities.
This year’s activities include
a series of field trips where the kids will enjoy arcade games, bowling, an escape room, the Lakewood Yacht Club and an everyday heroes’ carnival at the Houston Fire Department. Later this week they’ll also be treated to dinner and a “prom night” at House of Blues Houston.
The cost of running the camp is approximately $1,700 per child and is entirely funded through community donations, Segesta said. Earlier this year, the hotel raised more than $83,000 for the camp through its annual fundraiser, Celebrity
H-Town Chefs Against Cancer, which featured 16 Houston restaurants.
The camp is an offshoot of Camp Kids are Kids Chicago, a similar urban camp that began in 2014 while Segesta was general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. He and his wife, Robin, brought the idea with them when he relocated to the Four Seasons Hotel Houston in 2015.
The first Camp H-Town took place in 2018, and it was held again the following year. The camp went virtual in 2020 and 2021, though, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Four Seasons and MD Anderson instead mailed a box of camping supplies to each child.
Camp H-Town is taking precautions now that the camp is back in person because many of the children are immunocompromised. Everyone participating in the camp was required to submit a negative COVID-19 test before it started, and they will be wearing face masks.
Robin Segesta, who serves on the board of directors for the camp, said it’s thrilling to see children back in person this year.
“We’ve been waiting for this,” she said. “It felt like we woke up this morning and it was Christmas.”