A safe place for adventure and fun
After pausing for a moment, Celeste Colmenares takes a deep breath and declares that she can hardly think of anything bad to say about YMCA Camp E.L.K.: She was an avid participant in skits, warmed herself around a campfire and even aimed an arrow at an archery target.
“OK, well, when we took the showers, they were soooo cold,” the 7-year-old says. “We had to put on our bathing suits and go in with partners.”
But Celeste is eager to brave the brisk water again this summer, when she’ll return for a week to the program with 120 to 135 other kids ages 6 to 13. Camp E.L.K., nestled within the Angeles National Forest in Wrightwood, was named after Edward L. Kopszywa, the former chief executive of the San Gabriel Valley YMCA, who had an intense commitment to camping.
“I wanted to go because I wanted to learn more,” Celeste says. “At first, I felt really nervous and I cried a lot because I missed my parents, but then I started to like all the adventures I took.”
And E.L.K. is the prime place for exploration, with campers climbing a 20-foot rock wall, untangling themselves from a human knot and fishing for trout in the local lake.
“It’s great exposure for these kids to see something completely different than the city,” says Jim Emery, director of camping services for the San Gabriel Valley YMCA, which runs the camp. “And for many of them, it’s an escape to leave a less-than-ideal situation at home behind.”
This was certainly the case for Celeste, whose Baldwin Park neighborhood suffers from violence and gang activity.
“We live in an apartment, and there’s graffiti all around the area,” says Espie Colmenares, Celeste’s mother. “You always hear bad activities happening and helicopters above. It’s not proper stuff, so camp gives her a fun environment to be in.”
“I felt older and like I was better at a lot of things,” the third-grader says of the lessons she learned at camp. “I could go rock climbing and hiking and do archery too.”
Ultimately, Emery hopes, campers will take home a reinforced set of values along with their suntans.
“I hope they’re taking away a better understanding of respect for their fellow man and the environment they live in,” Emery says, “and if they do come from that troubled background, that they’ll learn there is something better out there and that they can use the tools from camp to have a bright outlook at home.”
The San Gabriel Valley Family YMCA is one of 60 organizations receiving financial support this year through the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign.
More than 8,000 underprivileged children will go to camp this summer, thanks to $1.5 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 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.
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