Summer Camp Campaign: Lizardo Reyes, counselor and scholar

The call came in mid-December.

“We’re giving you a full ride,” said a man, who introduced himself as the vice president of admissions at Syracuse University. “Room and board, books included.”

Lizardo Reyes, 18, froze. He quietly uttered “thank you,” pocketed his cellphone and stood dazed in the one-bedroom apartment he shares with his mother, father and brother near Koreatown.

“I didn’t believe it until the official letter came in the mail,” he said. “And it didn’t truly hit me until about two weeks ago.”

Lizardo, who graduated from Palisades Charter High School in June, said intense studying and volunteer work kept him away from drug use and gang activity, which, he says, were rampant in his neighborhood. Growing up, he remembers seeing brawls on his street, blood on the pavement.

“I knew the bad stuff was easy to fall into,” Lizardo said, “so I stayed busy with academic things and tried to find ways to help others.”

During his sophomore year, while his father was in prison for drunk driving, Lizardo became a counselor at Malibu’s Camp Harmony — a sleep-away program designed to help homeless or impoverished children, between ages 7 and 12, learn life skills and gain self-esteem.

“I can really relate to these kids,” he said. “I understand what they go through. I tell them, ‘No bad situation is forever. You can create your own life.’”

During the camp’s summer and winter sessions, Lizardo happily spent afternoons with campers, playing “scooter hockey” and building pool rafts with water noodles. One by one, he said, they’d grow more confident and talkative.

“Camp is life-changing for the kids and it’s life-changing for me,” Lizardo says. “It’s gratifying to know you can really give back and be a role model. It’s awesome, even magical, to be part of it.”

Wendy Klappholz, executive director of United in Harmony, said Lizardo is consistently compassionate and even-tempered. “The thing about Lizardo that’s so amazing is he never steps down,” she said. “At breakfast and lunch, for example, he’d wait on those children and make sure they had everything they needed, always. I even used to say to him, ‘Sit down and relax!’”

Through the generosity of Times readers and a match by the McCormick Foundation, nearly $1.3 million was granted to local camp programs this year as a result of the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign.

The Summer Camp Campaign, part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a McCormick Foundation Fund, raises contributions to support programs that provide thousands of Southern California’s at-risk children ages 7 to 17 with enriching, educational and fun camp experiences.

Donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law and matched at 50 cents on the dollar. Donor information is not traded or published without permission. Donate online at latimes.com/donate or by calling (800) 518-3975. All gifts will receive a written acknowledgment.

danielle.paquette@latimes.com