Youngster is hooked on idea of fishing

In a second-story motel room in Cypress, a family of five shares two beds and has only a mini-fridge for food in the kitchenette. But 9-year-old Luke Brown said he feels lucky to live here. He’s close to another inn where there are many kids his age to play with.

Known to community volunteers as “motel children,” their families inhabit motels lining Lincoln Avenue, sometimes for years at a time. But Luke’s mother, Michelle Lariccia, said that she doesn’t plan to stay for long.

“This is not what we want for our life,” she said. “I think the kids suffer being here. They can’t play outside. You can only do so much.”

Lariccia and her husband, Luke’s stepfather, both lost their jobs more than a month ago. His stepfather now works as a cable contractor, but the family relies on food stamps and moved into the motel to help make ends meet. Luke’s biological father is in jail on drug charges.

Adding to their troubles, Luke and his brothers were taken into foster care after allegations of child abuse were made against Lariccia and her husband three years ago. Lariccia said the charges were overblown, and she regained custody a year later after taking parenting classes and undergoing drug and alcohol testing.

This summer, Luke will attend summer camp for the first time, spending six days at the Pathfinder Ranch near Garner Valley.

For Luke, camp will be especially meaningful because his family cannot afford to sign him up for sports or Cub Scouts.

In a matter of hours, Luke polished off a bag of jumbo-puff marshmallows -- his favorite food -- so it’s no surprise that he’s looking forward to roasting marshmallows at camp. He wants to snag the top bunk and tell scary stories from his “Goosebumps” book collection around a campfire. For days after Luke first heard he was going to camp, all he could think about was going fishing, swimming and hiking.

“He needs to get away and do something with kids his age,” Lariccia said. “Going to camp is going to make him more independent. Camp is the thing that he needs in his life.”

Luke is among the 12,000 children who will go to camp this summer, thanks to the $2.1 million raised by the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign last year.

Donations this season will ensure that just as many deserving children get the camp experience next summer.

The annual fundraising campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $1.2 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, go to 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.