Readers match $25K goal, set record
A lot of Long Beach kids will be enjoying the outdoors by spending a week in the mountains this summer, courtesy of the record-breaking generosity of Press-Telegram readers.
The publication’s readers dug deep this year in contributing to the annual Send-a-Kid-to-Camp drive, which ends today. Not only did P-T readers match the $25,000 from an anonymous donor, but ,overall, they contributed more than $100,000 to the Big 5 youth organizations that will send the children to week-long camps in nearby mountains this summer. The previous record totaled $80,207 in 2019.
Marcelle Epley, president and CEO of the Long Beach Community Foundation, which has partnered with the Press Telegram for the Send- a-Kidto-Camp Fund, said the Long Beach skies would not be the only thing lit up with fireworks tonight.
“The camp fund is on fire,” Epley said. “There is nothing more important than our youth. Investment in these kids will come back to our community tenfold.”
Press-Telegram Senior Editor Tom Bray noted how particularly impressive the giving was this year, given the economy is still rebounding from the coro
navirus pandemic.
“Not even a pandemic can derail the generosity of folks in the Long Beach area,” Bray said. “I thank you, everyone at the PressTelegram thanks you, the community thanks you and our campers thank you.”
Officials of the Big 5 youth organizations also were enthusiastic in their praise of readers.
“We are extremely humbled by the outpouring of generosity from our community and the fact that readers broke the fundraising record in the midst of one of the hardest times our city has seen is overwhelming,” said Don Rodriguez, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach. “Our families have been brought to tears when we inform them that there is no charge, thanks to the Press-Telegram, the late Tom Hennessy and our Long Beach community.”
Hennessy, the great former Press-Telegram columnist, helped create the annual drive with Jean Bixby Smith, chair emeritus of the Community Foundation, 22 years ago.
Alfredo Velasco, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Long Beach, said the outpouring of financial support for the kid-to-camp program is a “testament to individuals caring about youth in Long Beach.
“The general reaction from parents has been a hearty exhale of relief followed by joy and eagerness to re-engage their children to healthy, social activities, such as camp,” Velasco said. “Getting outdoors is getting healthy.”
John Fullerton, scout executive with the Boy Scouts, thanked all of the donors for their support.
“Getting kids outdoors is critically important to both the mental and physical well being of young people,” he said. “This is especially true because of the pandemic. Tied to this is the economic toll that the pandemic has had on our families. These funds are essential to helping provide these life-changing experiences.”
The excitement of going to a mountain camp, meanwhile, has kids and parents buzzing.
“I’ve never been to the mountains and I am so excited I just can’t stand it,” said Jackie, 11, of the Boys & Girls Clubs. “I want to sit around a big fire and see all of the stars at night.”
A single parent told Camp Fire Angeles officials that without the Send-a-Kid-to-Camp Fund, the family’s boys wouldn’t be able to go to the mountains.
“I’m a single parent and I just can’t swing camp without your help,” the parent said. “It means the world to my boys.”
It costs, on average, $450 to send a child to a mountain camp for one week.
Last year, Press-Telegram readers donated approximately $56,000 to the fund in the hope that camps would open, but pandemic restrictions continued and the camps remained closed. Donations received last year will be added to an endowment fund that has been set up to support the youth organizations in perpetuity, Epley said.
Georgia Stewart, executive director of Camp Fire Angeles, said the fact that there were no summer camps last year brought into focus how important camps are to kids.
“The time outdoors, without cellphones and digital media is restorative and encouraging; a new beginning,” Stewart said. “Campers, counselors, parents — the entire Camp Wintaka community in the San Bernardino Mountains — is so excited to be back.”
This year’s fund drive started May 14 after the youth organizations announced camps would be open this summer. On June 13, an anonymous donor said they would contribute an additional $25,000 if readers matched that amount with their collective donations between then and the end of the campaign on the Fourth of July.
Readers responded with donations, but they were $5,535 short of the $25,000, it was announced last week, and the deadline was only four days away. To the rescue came the Long Beach Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation. After reading the article on the possible shortfall of reaching the $25,000 matching grant, Ron Arias, board chair of the foundation, said he polled board member, who all agreed to donate $5,000 to help reach the goal.
“For 54 years, the Earl and Loraine Miller Foundation has been going about the business of trying to keep Long Beach kids healthy,” Arias, a former Long Beach health and human services director, said. “The Kid-toCamp Fund is just such a program, providing underserved youth the opportunity to experience the great outdoors, build selfesteem and create lifelong friendships.”
With the after-effects of the pandemic, Arias said, the foundation understands the challenges facing parents who may have lost income and employment or who are dealing with other hardships.
“The Miller Foundation is proud to donate $5,000 to send these kids to camp,” he said.
With the matching grant of $25,000 met, this year’s fund drive total is slightly more than $100,000. The final total won’t be known until next week when mail containing checks gets opened and online contributions are counted.
A personal note: Once again, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of our readers, who came through during extremely difficult times. I agree with Epley of the Community Foundation who said:
“Big and small, every donation has made a difference in the lives of children. This giving is what makes Long Beach, Long Beach.”
Recent donors
• Susan Ansberry
• Sue Baker
• Barbara A Bastian
• Jeff Becker
• Ralph and Anne Marie Benson
• Vincent and Jessica Birardi
• Barbara Blackwell in memory of Tom Hennessy
• Marilyn G. Boss
• Bob and Allison Brammer
• Penelope Brocksen
• Patrick Brown
• Peggy Brutsche
• Jacqueline Butts
• R.A. and Elizabeth Casper
• Suzanne and Jeffery Castner
• Linda Clasen
• Donald E Cochran
• Gerald Cocks in memory of Dona
• Russell E. Collison
• Warren and Susan Crawford
• Carl E. Curtis
• Kathy Desmond
• Richard and Darlene Downing
• Alexis M. Dragony
• Don Duckworth
• Molly Ficarra
• Arthur and Josephine Fitzpatrick
• Penny Flint in memory of Tony Garcia
• Karen Fox
• Dianne Franklin
• Gary Goltra
• Rebecca Graffy
• Kathleen and John Green
• Kenneth M. Gregory
• Craig Hagman in memory of Lynn Hagman
• Debbie Harris
• Betty Hobbs
• Douglas Hodson
• Mari Hooper
• Linda and Raymond Howard
• Robert and Marianne Hughlett
• Charlee Hutton in memory of Fran and Howard Hutton
• Cathy Jaquess
• Nancy Karl
• Gayle and Charles Knapp
• Sam and Lucy Lanting
• Frances Lyon
• Larry and Suzanne Margerum
• William and Claire Marmion
• Lani Marquette
• Yolanda and Richard Martinez
• William and Dulcie Mc Cracken
• Jonathan McMullen
• Chris and Vivian Miller
• Renee and Christopher Monroy
• Julee and Jim Morris in memory of Tom and Debbie Hennessy
• Paul Morrison
• Heather Morrison for Grandma Rina
• Paul Muehlebach in memory of Lois Muehlebach
• Tommy Nerman in memory of Mary Thoits
• Jane Paquin
• Patricia L. Paris
• Braden and Susan Phillips
• John and Kay Redner
• Deborah A. Reed
• Mary Alice Reyes
• John Roberson
• Jan Runyon
• Tara Shepard in the name of Sue Acebo
• Larry and Candice Stacy
• Diane K. Stewart
• Kenneth Stoddard
• Carole L. Strode
• Steve and Jan Szabatura
• Murray and Susan Taubman
• Sandra Wallace
• Judith and William Weldon
• Suzanne Wenke
• Jim Wilson.
A final list of donors will appear next week.