A chance to build skills, have fun on the beach

As aspiring filmmaker Michael Johnson began shooting his first film, “The Black-Hooded Ninja,” he hit a production snag. He didn’t own anything with a black hood. The movie’s title would have to be changed to “The Blue-Hooded Ninja.”

But Michael plugged on, directing choreographed fight scenes with his sister and a friend, and using ketchup to imitate bloodstains on his T-shirt while his father caught the action on the home video camera. In nearly every scene, Michael would meet an untimely death at the hands of his 7-year-old sister, Brooklin.

The loss of life that 12-year-old Michael has portrayed on film is all too familiar to him. His mother, Linda Johnson, was 31 when she suffered a heart attack and collapsed in the family’s bathroom. Michael tried to wake his mother, thinking she had fallen asleep on the floor.

“I think about her all the time,” said Michael, who was 8 when she died. “Every single day I think about her taking me to the park or to church.”

Michael fondly recalls traveling with his mother, who operated a beauty business. She made house calls to clients who were unable to get to a salon, giving manicures and doing their hair. Michael and Brooklin helped their mom by sweeping up hair or getting the nail station ready. He vividly remembers the bag she carried, a large red case that held an assortment of nail polishes as well as curling irons and scissors.

This summer, Michael and Brooklin will each spend a week at the Stanley Ranch Camp in Castaic. It will be their first time at camp. They chose to participate in the survival camp, where Michael will work as part of a team to build an outdoor shelter and will learn about astronomy, make fire and find out which plants and bugs are edible. But it won’t be all work and no play. The campers spend two nights on the beaches of Castaic Lake and two nights in cabins on the campsite.

“I’ll have help with me and they’ll teach me right from wrong and tell me what I need to do,” Michael said. “And I like animals. Maybe I’ll eat different fruit I’ve never eaten before. I’m not sure about eating bugs, though.”

Michael and Brooklin will be among the 12,000 children who will go to camp this summer, thanks to $2.1 million raised in the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign last year. Donations this season seek to ensure that just as many deserving children get the camp experience next summer. As of July 15, $711,000 had been raised toward this year’s goal of $1.2 million.

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.