Bus to another world

When Stanley Ranch Camp opened in 1945, the Castaic camp site was rural, verging on wild. Today, it is surrounded by development, but for many of the underprivileged kids from Los Angeles County who spend a week on the 200-acre campus, it is the most nature they have ever seen.

“For kids who have lived in a 4-mile radius all their lives, to be out in nature, let alone meeting counselors from other countries they have never even heard of in school, is a truly eye-opening experience,” said Dave Branconier, director of staff development for the Woodcraft Rangers, the nonprofit organization that runs the Stanley Ranch Camp.

Originally, the camp catered to Los Angeles children from all socioeconomic classes. During the Johnson administration’s War on Poverty in the 1960s, the camp started to concentrate on children from East and central Los Angeles who otherwise would have no opportunity to go.

And so each summer, 800 L.A.-area children ages 7 to 14 hop on a bus and head to Stanley Ranch Camp, nestled in the scrubby, chaparral-covered hills outside the city. For six days, they live in cabins or tents. They learn archery, swim, go on night hikes and sleep under the stars.

There aren’t many parks where these children come from. Branconier said many campers start getting excited as soon as they see the green hills around the J. Paul Getty Museum on the bus ride out of town.

“They get to camp in Castaic, and it might as well be Yosemite,” he said. They haven’t been out in nature. Many live in dangerous neighborhoods where they can’t go out at night. “It gets dark, and many of them think they should be inside. They’re scared on their first night hike,” he said.

Talking to other children with similar experiences, building a relationship with an adult other than a parent, meeting kids from other neighborhoods and hanging out with counselors from Romania, Australia, England and France lets them know it’s a big world with lots of possibilities for their lives.

Woodcraft Rangers Chief Executive Cathie Mostovoy said most campers come from homes in which parents work long hours, which requires the children to take on adult responsibilities -- preparing meals or caring for siblings. Some children are raised by grandparents who are unable to swim across a lake, scale a climbing wall or play ball with them.

“That week is really for them to be kids,” said Mostovoy.

The Los Angeles Times summer camp fund pays the $175 camp fee for 600 of the 800 children who attend the camp each summer. Most of the other 200 campers are sent by other organizations who also receive Los Angeles Times Camp Campaign funds.

About 11,000 children will go to camp this summer, thanks to the $1.6 million raised last year.

The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, part of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.1 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To make donations by credit card, view the website at latimes.com/summercamp.

To send checks, use the attached coupon. Do not send cash.

Unless requested otherwise, gifts of $50 or more will be acknowledged in The Times.