{"id":306806,"date":"2026-05-08T23:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/306806\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T23:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T23:50:13","slug":"maria-alarcon-95-remembers-her-camp-days-wants-to-help-kids-today-press-telegram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/306806\/","title":{"rendered":"Maria Alarcon, 95, remembers her camp days, wants to help kids today \u2013 Press Telegram"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maria Alarcon had a difficult childhood, growing up poor in Central Los Angeles in the middle of the Great Depression in the 1930s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very, very poor,\u201d she said. \u201cMy father was an immigrant from Mexico. We had very little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then a life-changing event happened to Maria.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomehow, through my school, when I was 11 in 1942, I spent a week in a summer camp in the mountains. I think it was Camp Valyer in the San Gabriel Mountains. It was the most wonderful experience of my young life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of that experience, Alarcon has been donating to the Press-Telegram\u2019s Send-a-Kid-to-Camp fund. The Press-Telegram, as well as its weekly sister publication, the Grunion Gazette, is once again partnering with the Long Beach Community Foundation for the 27th year in sending kids to camps in nearby mountains.<\/p>\n

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\"Press-Telegram<\/p>\n

Press-Telegram columnist Rich Archbold speaking to kids at Camp Oakes about their experience at the summer camp on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Maria<\/p>\n

Maria Alarcon. (Photo courtesy of Karen Butler)\n<\/p>\n

\"Rich<\/p>\n

Rich Archbold, the Press-Telegram\u2019s public editor and columnist, was gifted a Scouts shirt that read \u201cWe Sent Thousands of Kids to Camp,\u201d across the back in honor of his efforts to help raise funds for the annual Send-a-Kid-to-Camp campaign, at Phil Trani\u2019s Restaurant in Long Beach on Thursday, July 25, 2024. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Press-Telegram<\/p>\n

Press-Telegram columnist Rich Archbold speaks to kids at Camp Oakes in Big Bear on Wednesday, Aug. 10. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The 2024 Send-a-Kid-to-Camp fundraising campaign surpassed expectations and set a new record of $155,000 in donations. These kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs\u2019 Eastman\/Fairfield Center are just some of the many that will benefit, in Long Beach on Thursday, June 27, 2024.
\nAdults L-R Don Rodriguez, CEO Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, Rich Archbold, public editor, columnist for the Press-Telegram, Frank Newell, chair of the Long Beach Community Foundation board, and Marcelle Epley, President & CEO of the Long Beach Community Foundation. (Photo by Brittany M. Solo Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Press-Telegram columnist Rich Archbold speaking to kids at Camp Oakes about their experience at the summer camp on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

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Our generous readers, including Alarcon, have opened their wallets and purses to help youngsters from low-income families enjoy a week at a mountain camp run by one of the \u201cBig Five\u201d youth organizations: the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Camp Fire Long Beach, Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts, now known as Scouting America.<\/p>\n

In a letter to the Press-Telegram with her camp donation in 2015, Alarcon said she still remembered a camp counselor telling her in 1942: \u201cYou always wake up smiling.\u201d Alarcon said, \u201cI\u2019ll always remember that. It\u2019s like a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alarcon wrote in her letter, \u201cIt makes me feel good every time I make a donation. Even though the amount is relatively small I feel I am helping another youngster the way I was helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what she wrote in 2015 when she was 84. Alarcon wrote another letter with another donation this year.<\/p>\n

In her current letter, she wrote, \u201cWould you believe it? I am 95 now, and I continue to believe in helping our young (er) generation in this troubled world we now live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

In checking donations to the camp fund, I learned that Alarcon gave more than 40 donations to the fund in the past 13 years.<\/p>\n

I called Alarcon on the phone, and she sounded very excited about her donation this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love helping these youngsters,\u201d she said. \u201cI still remember how much camp helped me. It\u2019s something I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said her health was good. \u201cExcept I do have a habit of falling down,\u201d she added with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Alarcon worked in the payroll department for the city of Long Beach before she retired. Her brother, Arthur L. Alarcon was the first Latino appointed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A judge for more than 50 years, he died in 2015. He was 89.<\/p>\n

We are asking readers again this year for donations to send kids to a week in a camp in the mountains. Remember that, like almost everything else, that cost keeps increasing. The average cost of sending one child to one week at a camp is $600.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut any donation, whether large or small or something in between, is very helpful in sending kids to camp,\u201d said Tara Sievers, Donor and Community Relations Manager at the Community Foundation.<\/p>\n

We invite you to make whatever donation you can to our campaign this year\u2013and make a kid\u2019s dream come true like it did for Maria Alarcon. We thank you in advance for making a difference in the lives of so many deserving youngsters.<\/p>\n

HOW TO DONATE<\/p>\n

Online: Donations with a credit card via the Long Beach Community Foundation\u2019s website are preferred. Go to longbeachcf.org<\/a>. The Long Beach Community Foundation Tax ID# is EIN-20-5054010.<\/p>\n

Mail: Send a check with \u201cSend-a-Kid-to-Camp\u201d in the memo, payable to Long Beach Community Foundation, 1 World Trade Center, 8th Floor, Long Beach, CA 90831.<\/p>\n

Send a Kid to Camp \u2013 2026Donors through 5\/6\/26Campaign Total: $27,619.95<\/p>\n

\u2013Maria Alarcon\u2013Robert and Jeannie Alban\u2013Anonymous\u2013Katie Archbold Andrs\u2013Caroline Arthur\u2013David and Debra Ball\u2013Vincent Basile\u2013Donald Baughman\u2013Paula Bawden\u2013Robert Bourget in memory of Ruth King Richardson\u2013Dianne and Barry Bradfield\u2013Penny Brocksen\u2013Linda Bryan-Thompson\u2013Terry and Susan Buckley\u2013Gayle Cardon\u2013Vivian Chen\u2013Cheryl Clark in memory of her mom, Florence Glaser\u2013Jewel Cowart\u2013Tom Daellenbach\u2013Norma Dallman\u2013Bonnie Daugherty\u2013Anonymous\u2013Ruth Davis\u2013Joan and Gil Delgado in memory of Tom Hennessey<\/p>\n

\u2013Susan Dewar\u2013Melanie Dietz\u2013Glenn and Margo Dobbs\u2013George Downer and Jan Green in memory of The Doho\u2013Ruth Ann Edwall\u2013Brian Fantin in honor of Jon Ronald Fantin\u2013Daphne Fear\u2013Polly Foncannon\u2013Larry and Frances Fowler\u2013Claude and Nancy Friedmann\u2013Susan Garcia\u2013Fred, Mike and Jan Gaschen\u2013Helen Gates\u2013Evangeline Gatling\u2013Diane Gleason\u2013Kate Griffin\u2013Bernard and Susan Haight\u2013Anonymous\u2013Rose Hamilton in memory of Charles Hamilton\u2013Anonymous\u2013James and Sue Hiatt\u2013Jean Hoffman\u2013Barry and Jan Jackson\u2013June-Ann Jaeke\u2013The Janquart Family\u2013Anna Joyce\u2013Ed and Jill Copelin\u2013Christopher Kennedy\u2013Michael Keohane\u2013Elizabeth Kier\u2013Bryan Lane\u2013Thomas Lane\u2013James and Julie Lehenbauer\u2013Anonymous\u2013Barbara and Manuel Loureiro\u2013Elizabeth Lucas\u2013In memory of Liz Kier\u2013Alan and Eileen Manack\u2013Kay Mantoen\u2013Rob and Caroline Martin\u2013Anna Martinez\u2013Dawn McKenna\u2013Jonathan McMullen\u2013Judy McNulty-Black<\/p>\n

\u2013G.F. McVey\u2013Anonymous\u2013John and Betsy Metcalfe\u2013CD and Art Milas\u2013Lois Miller in memory of Peg Merrill\u2013Jaimie and Craig Mock\u2013Vickie Mortensen\u2013Tommy Nerman in memory of Bill and Frances Keys\u2013Sally and Ed Nilsen\u2013Gene Novotny\u2013James and Jane Nowell\u2013Kathleen O\u2019Connell\u2013Steven Page\u2013Karole Pando\u2013Jerilynn Peterson\u2013Evelyn and John Pohlmann\u2013Patricia Pollman\u2013Tamara Presley\u2013Johna Lyn and Nelson Reynolds\u2013Rian and Mary Robison\u2013Donna Rogahn in memory of Harold Omel\u2013Amy Royle\u2013Victor and Iris Ruiz\u2013Marcia Scharfen\u2013Janice Schlesinger\u2013Mimi Scully in memory of Ron\u2013Danny Shatwell\u2013Joe Sheridan\u2013Steve Shinn\u2013Melanie Smothers\u2013Virginia Spina\u2013Elizabeth Stepan in honor of George J Stepan\u2013Robert Stephens\u2013Sandra Stolpe\u2013Terrence and Alexandra Sullivan\u2013John Sumpter in memory of Tom Pontac\u2013Dorothy McGowan Thomas\u2013Roberta Vernon\u2013George and Leanne Voigt\u2013Mike and Liz Vozzella\u2013David and Kathy Walker in memory of Christopher\u2013Jeffery Washington\u2013Linda Watson Wheeler Family\u2013Anonymous\u2013Judy Ann Willis\u2013John Winger in memory of Ann J Winger\u2013Roger Working<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maria Alarcon had a difficult childhood, growing up poor in Central Los Angeles in the middle of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[23,131,133,132,741,136],"class_list":["post-306806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-local-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-rich-archbold-columns","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}