Amy Conrad (PhD ’04) first attended The Heart Connection Children’s Cancer Program camp as a 10-year-old. Now, some 20 years later, the camp is still an important part of her life.

The Heart Connection camp, based out of Des Moines, serves children with cancer as well as their siblings. Conrad attended camp to cope with losing her sister, Emily. She continues to serve as a counselor helping children who are going through the same experience.

“It’s a wonderful place,” Conrad said. “There are some kids I had as campers when they were eight years old and I see them year after year. Watching them grow up and having them come back and say that summer at camp or that talk we had really meant something, knowing that you made a difference in their lives really touches you.”

Kira Nehmer, now a senior at St. Olaf College, was 12 when she attended camp with Conrad as a counselor. She said Conrad served as a mentor to her, helping her understand what to expect and how to cope with losing her brother, Kevin.

“Amy led me through a time in my life in a way that no one else could. The impact is indescribable,” Nehmer said. “She told me to spend every free moment that I could with Kevin, as I wouldn’t be able to in the future—something that seems very obvious, but that a 12 year old, or someone in denial when a loved one is dying, might not think to do.”

Nehmer has followed in Conrad’s footsteps by serving as a camp counselor at The Heart Connection as well, and said she is inspired by Conrad’s service to others.

“If she just helps one person at a time to feel at peace, and each person gives that to someone else, the impact could be enormous,” Nehmer said.
Conrad, though, sees it another way.

“The more amazing thing is how much the kids have touched my life,” she said.

Conrad now works at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as a research assistant. She oversees research protocols for Peg Nopoulos, M.D., who is studying brain structure and brain function in children with cleft palates.

In addition to her work at the camp, Conrad also has volunteered with an Iowa City hospice group called Kids Understanding Loss (KUL).

Ginger Nowak, who has facilitated KUL since it formed in 1986, said Conrad has a wonderful connection with the children in the group and is able to help them focus on positive ways to cope with loss.

“When you understand something that’s going on in a child’s life, it’s a gift to just be able to walk beside them,” Nowak said.

During her undergraduate years at Central College in Pella, Conrad volunteered at the ArtCenter, an after-school program where kids could create art works using whatever medium inspired them.

Tilly Woodward, Cultural Affairs manager for the city of Pella, was Conrad’s supervisor at the ArtCenter and said she considers her a “truly special person,” especially because of all she’s given back to the children.

“I was impressed with both her openness and the way she turned her grief into a gift for others,” Woodward said.

Conrad said her penchant for service and giving is genetic.

“My dad has always said, if you’re not giving to your community, you’re not living your life and you’re not doing what you were put here to do,” she said.