DEER PARK, Wash. — Wearing a T-shirt, no socks, a pair of shorts and a pair of sandals, Kyle Wiltjer, star forward of the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, was seen snapping his fingers at a song Tuesday during Camp Goodtimes at YMCA Camp Reed, later taking off his sunglasses.

For the second straight year, Wiltjer and nine of his Zags teammates made an appearance to many of the more than 100 campers, up from more than 80 last year. They were split up and sent to different parts of the camp, with Wiltjer and a teammate joining more than half a dozen campers near the lake for swimming activities.

Located 31 miles north of Spokane, the camp atmosphere was not something you necessarily see on the basketball court at McCarthey Athletic Center, at least not during games.

Camp Goodtimes, held free of charge, helps children and teenagers deal with cancer, and helps families of children who are dealing with the disease.

“It’s awesome,” said Wiltjer, the Zags’ leading scorer last year as a junior at 16.8 points per game. “We just want to help these kids keep their minds off things and keep having fun. It’s really fun for us too, so we’re going to enjoy it.”

The human side of the Zags players was seen all around the camp. One moment involved backup 7-foot-1 sophomore center Ryan Edwards from Glacier High in Kalispell, Mont., a second-timer as well, whose teammate was seen moving his hips around with a hula hoop near a volleyball net, shortly before campers got set to play kickball.

“I love it here, it’s a great time,” Edwards said. “It’s good to give back to the community and hang out with some kids.”

One of those kids was 10-year-old Jaykob Morse, who will turn 11 on Aug. 13 and will be in fifth grade at Ramsey Elementary in Coeur d’Alene. He had a bone marrow transplant to help him deal with a rare disease called aplastic anemia, which according to webmd.com, the bone marrow does not make enough blood cells for the body. He’s gone through liver failure.

“I feel like this camp is special,” Morse said. “Because they’re here to help kids who have gone through terrible sicknesses. The Gonzaga players, they surprise us with this stuff, because they want us to feel good about ourselves and not bad, or what kind of sickness we have.”

Jaykob was accompanied by his older brother, Anthony Morse, a 14-year-old who is heading into his freshman year at Coeur d’Alene High.

“It gives us a place to plug away from the world,” Anthony said.

Campers are keeping busy this week, participating in activities such as canoeing, archery, campfires, a talent show, fishing, swimming, dancing and arts and crafts. On Tuesday, the campers were eating some barbecue.

Jerid Keefer, who works for the second-year Community Cancer Fund, helped bring the players to Camp Goodtimes. Community Cancer Fund helps fight cancer in the Inland Northwest by funding local cancer prevention and supporting cancer patients.

“I think if you talk with the Zags, they probably take as much out of this as the kids do,” Keefer said. “I know it’s a big deal for coach (Mark) Few, it’s part of the program. Life’s about more than just basketball and I think this serves as a nice reminder, the abilities to give back and it means so much to coach (Few). It means the world to these kids to see the guys up close and to be able to see them in an environment that’s different, you get to see the human side.”

Few was not at Camp Goodtimes, as he is the head coach of the U.S. Pan American men’s basketball team, which plays July 21-25 in Toronto.

Josh Perkins is one of the guards who will compete for the starting point guard slot left open by Kevin Pangos, who graduated from Gonzaga and is playing for the Dallas Mavericks’ summer league team. Perkins, a sophomore this fall, is from Park Hill, Colo.

“We know these kids look up to us,” Perkins said. “We just want to give them a sense of hope and keep a smile on their face because at the end of the day, we want to see them happy and we appreciate their support.”

From the kids, the feeling was mutual.