A rare bright spot in a teen’s life of heartbreak

Desiree has crammed a lot of heartbreak into her 15 years of life.

When she was about 8, her mother’s drug addiction destroyed the family, and Desiree and her three sisters and brother were scattered around the Los Angeles County foster care system.

Since then, Desiree has lived in “20-something” foster homes -- she’s in Hacienda Heights now -- and gets to see her siblings only once a month or so. She rarely sees her mother anymore.

“She chose that stuff over her kids,” Desiree said. “We don’t get along that good. She’s still into everything.”

One of the few positive constants in Desiree’s life has been trips to summer camps. This summer will mark her fifth trip in eight years, and she’s looking forward to seeing old friends and former housemates from her myriad foster homes.

Most telling of the influence summer camp has had on Desiree’s life is the detailed memory she has of the morning rituals of her first camping trip, half a young lifetime ago.

“We would get up early and get ready to take our showers and wash up,” Desiree said. “Then we would go back to the cabin and then they would have roll call, where they would count us off. After, we would walk to the big circle and we would all sing camp songs and after that we would do the Pledge of Allegiance, and then we would go and eat breakfast.”

Desiree is one of about 15 kids that the David and Margaret Home in La Verne, which oversees her foster placements, will be sending to camp this summer with the help of a $5,000 grant from the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign.

About 10,000 children will go to camp this summer thanks to $1.6 million raised last year. 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 $1.1 million in contributions at 50 cents on the dollar.

Donations are tax-deductible. For more information, call (213) 237-5771. To donate 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.