Eight-year-old Ryell can’t wait to go to summer camp in the mountains so he can learn how to swim during the day — and eat marshmallows at night.
Nine-year-old Misa is looking forward to staying up all night and talking with friends, including the new ones she plans to meet.
Nya, also 9, is eager to go hiking in the great outdoors and sleep in cabins.
“These kids are really excited about going to camp for the first time,” said Kari Cho, vice president of development and marketing for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach.
Those youngsters are among the many who will spend a week in the mountains as part of the “Send-a-Kid-to-Camp” program, organized by the Press-Telegram and its sister publication, the Grunion Gazette, in partnership with the Long Beach Community Foundation.
Kids from Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach are getting ready to head to summer camp. (Front row) Nya, Misa, and Ryell will be going to camp for the first time. (Back row) Daisy, Renai, and Zoie have attended camp before and are excited to go again. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Kids from Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach are getting ready to head to summer camp. (Front row) Press-Telegram’s public editor and columnist Rich Archbold with Nya, Misa, and Ryell, who will be going to camp for the first time. (Back row) Daisy, Renai, and Zoie have attended camp before and are excited to go again. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
(L-R) Nya, 9, Misa, 9, and Ryell, 8, from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach will be attending summer camp for the first time this year. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
(L-R) Daisy, 9, Renai, 10, and Zoie, 11, from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach have attended summer camp before and said they are excited to go again this year to swim, rock climb, and fish in the lake. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Kids from Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach are getting ready to head to summer camp. (Front row) Nya, Misa, and Ryell will be going to camp for the first time. (Back row) Daisy, Renai, and Zoie have attended camp before and are excited to go again. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Kids from Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach are getting ready to head to summer camp. (Front row) Nya, Misa, and Ryell will be going to camp for the first time. (Back row) Daisy, Renai, and Zoie have attended camp before and are excited to go again. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Kids from Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach are getting ready to head to summer camp. (Front row) Nya, Misa, and Ryell will be going to camp for the first time. (Back row) Daisy, Renai, and Zoie have attended camp before and are excited to go again. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
This is the 27th year readers have been asked for donations to send kids whose families otherwise couldn’t afford it to one week in mountain camps operated by the city’s “Big Five” youth organizations: Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Camp Fire Long Beach, the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts, now known as Scouting America.
Sunday, June 21, is the deadline to make a donation.
Tom Bray, the Press-Telegram’s senior editor, said this has been another great year for the camp program.
“We’re confident our readers will bring the drive to another strong finish,” he said.
Cho brought several youngsters together from the Boys & Girls Clubs last week to talk with the Press-Telegram about the camp program, which starts next week in nearby mountains. For the next three weeks, various groups of club members will go to Camp Oakes in the San Bernardino Mountains, near Big Bear. It is operated by the YMCA of Greater Long Beach.
Three of the kids – Ryell, Misa and Nya – will go for the first time. Three others – Daisy, Renai and Zoie – went last year.
Zoie, 11, said her favorite activities were rock climbing and canoeing. Daisy, 9, and Renai, 10, said one of their favorite activities was fishing.
They are all busy rolling up sleeping bags and packing duffel bags for their big adventure. Items they will not include, however, are cell phones and tablets.
The kids had mixed reactions to the ban on cell phones and screens during camp. The kids going for the first time had the strongest reaction to the ban.
“I think it’s horrible,” Nya said.
“It’s bad if I can’t text my friends all day,” said Misa.
But those who have been to camp said the ban wasn’t that bad — because they were kept so busy they didn’t have time for phones.
“I liked not having a phone,” Daisy said, “because I could spend more time talking with others and having fun.”
Renai agreed.
“It was good not having a phone,” Renai said, “because I was able to pay more attention to the great environment in the mountains.”
There is still time to donate to the camp fund — but only just. We invite readers to make whatever donations you can to make a child’s dream come true. Remember, like everything else, costs keep increasing. The average cost of sending one child to a week at camp is $600.
We thank you in advance for making a difference in the lives of so many deserving youngsters.
HOW TO DONATE
Online: Donations with a credit card via the Long Beach Community Foundation’s website are preferred. Go to longbeachcf.org. Long Beach Community Foundation Tax ID number is EIN-20-5054010.
Mail: Send a check with “Send-a-Kid-to-Camp” in the memo, payable To Long Beach Community Foundation, 1 World Trade Center, 8th Floor, Long Beach, CA 90831.
Send a Kid to Camp
Weekly total: $11,684.41.
Campaign Total: $152,198.06 (through June 18; includes a $30,000 matching donation).
Donors:
Claire Beekman.
Anonymous.
Chris and Jane Conway.
Anthony and Valerie Gales.
Debbie Gentry, in memory of Liz and Mort Kier.
Gwen and Steve Gibson.
Craig Hagman, in memory of his parents Lynn and Betty Hagman.
Al and Carla Hamlin.
Eileen Heisman.
John and Elizabeth Krummell.
Woman’s Club of Artesia-Cerritos.
Allan and Georgianna Kolsky.
Robert Lanctot.
Gail and Alan Mutke.
Tommy Nerman, in memory of Kay Nerman.
Raymond Nottingham.
Nadia Shamma.
Lois Smith.
Diane Kay Stewart.
Mary Suttie.