The story of Kascharli

Kascharli. It’s not a real word, but a merging of two names of best buddies.

Kascha and Charli first met at a Weekend At Camp (WAC) in November 2022. They bonded the very first morning as the only two in their cabin to participate in the Polar Bear hike. After a weekend of crafting, canoeing, singing around the campfire, and hot chocolate-ing, (if you’ve been to camp, you’ll recognize this verb), Kascharli were inseparable.

While a two-hour drive separates them, they stayed in touch through FaceTime conversations, which have grown from monthly to weekly. It wasn’t until spring 2023 that they would reunite again. Even though it had been months, their awkwardness disappeared when they realized they both owned the same rare Great British Bake Show board game and shared stories of baking, school, and having two sisters.

At the time, Kascha’s mom said, “She doesn’t make friends this easily at school, and after everything we’ve been through, she has a lot of anxiety about being away from us. But now that she’s met Charli, she is already talking about going to camp for a week in the summer.”

Four months later, the girls met up again, this time in Kascha’s hometown for a weekend getaway, where the theme was ‘all Kascharli, all the time,’ which ended with a floating water park with both families of six sisters hanging out. The dynamic duo have secret plans for their families to either share one big multilevel farmhouse or at least live closer together.

Last summer up at camp at Muskoka, Kascharli were brimming with excitement. And although they were on different busses, Campfire Circle came through and assigned them to the same cabin. They didn’t choose the same electives, confident in their friendship to let the other be themselves but spent meal times, swimming, boating, and campfire together. Notice that there was no mention of the word sleep! It was summer camp, after all.

After their summer overnight camp adventures, it was clear Kascharli are going to be lifelong friends.

Almost right to the date, Kascharli reunited a year later at the Great Campfire Circle Bake-Off in Toronto.

Kascha’s family spent the day at Charli’s home in Mississauga while Kascharli had fun at their first community event without family tagging along.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was like a mini-camp experience. We made bling, made mug cakes, decorated cookies, and sang songs. But my favourite part was getting to see Kascha in person at a camp workshop on our friendship anniversary,” says Charli. “Camp is magical to me because I met someone there who understands me without needing to talk about it.”

There is no possibility Kascha and Charli would have met without Campfire Circle. The joy they feel when they see each offers more than a small amount of comfort to both of their families after coping with the stresses of a childhood cancer diagnosis.

Campfire Circle finds ways, both planned and unexpected, to bring smiles to the faces of these two friends when they see each other in person and peals of laughter echo through their respective houses when only FaceTime is possible. A diagnosis can be extremely challenging, but something new and special came from it. And that’s because of the magic of Campfire Circle.