Summer Camp Campaign: Where Salvador can dream of being an engineer

Many young boys want to be policemen, firefighters, maybe even astronauts when they grow up.

But Salvador Brown-Garcia loves to build things with Lego toys. Sometimes he stacks them up into buildings, then he knocks them down like he’s playing a real-life version of Angry Birds.

When Salvador grows up, he wants to be an engineer.

Salvador was born with fetal alcohol syndrome, and, although he’s 14 years old, “mentally he’s close to 8 or 10,” said his mother, Christina Stainbrook.

Salvador arrived prematurely and weighed only 4 pounds, 5 ounces at birth. His lungs fused together in the womb, and he had an enlarged heart valve. When she heard, Stainbrook dropped the phone at her work and ran down to the hospital to see him. And because of his condition, the street in front of Pomona Children’s Hospital had to be blocked off to whisk him to a Los Angeles hospital in a helicopter.

Stainbrook adopted Salvador and his older sister, and she takes them on trips so they can see nature firsthand; they recently drove to Yellowstone National Park. Stainbrook said Salvador has some cognitive problems, so it’s good for him to experience things in person.

With the help of the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign, Salvador will be able to spend a week at the Circle V Ranch Summer Camp in Santa Barbara next month, where he’ll be able to swim, hike and work with crafts, his other favorite hobby. It will be his fourth time at the camp.

“He’s one of the most gentle, kindest boys you’ll meet,” camp director Ray Lopez said, “and loves being in the outdoors. We’re excited to have him back.”

Circle V is run by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. This year it will host 1,200 campers, 98% of whom are on full or partial scholarships, Lopez said.

The camp is a time for Salvador to escape his Pomona neighborhood, which his mother says is not bad but not the best. It’s a time when he can walk out under the stars and play with kids who accept him as he is.

“It’s powerful,” Lopez said. “And it’s awesome to see just in six days what camp can do. It plants great seeds of hope.”

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.

weston.phippen@latimes.com