Summer Camp Campaign

You’ll know 14-year-old Maria Flores by her smile. It is ever present, ever sincere. You can almost hear it in her voice.

“Yeah, I smile a lot,” Maria said. “I guess I’m just a happy person.”

With a dramatic story like Maria’s, happy seems to be the last thing she should be, but it is the easiest and most natural thing for her.

Maria lives with her two younger brothers and her mother in Highland Park. Though they now have a permanent roof over their heads, for a long time they didn’t know the meaning of home. For a year, they had to move from shelter to shelter, seeking refuge from her abusive father.

After years of watching her mother get shoved and cursed at by her father, it is a relief for Maria to be free from that environment, although it was tough having to leave her friends and change schools so frequently. She is receiving therapy, but for now, the best therapy she knows is to smile.

“My friends always ask me, ‘How do you be happy?’” Maria said. “I don’t know, I just can’t be depressed. That’s just who I am; I’m a happy person.”

But she’s also a shy person, Maria said. And she’s working on it.

In fact, she has high hopes that she will finally break out of her shell by attending Camp Paintrock, a four-week summer camp in Wyoming organized by C5LA, a youth leadership development foundation that helps high-potential, at-risk youth achieve educational and personal goals.

Maria has wanted to go to camp ever since she heard several high school graduates give speeches on how summer camp helped them overcome their timidity.

“I remember them saying, ‘Look at me, I used to be shy but after camp I got rid of my shyness and here I am giving a speech.’ So I got really inspired by that and I said, ‘OK, I’m going to camp!’” said Maria.

She dreams of studying film at USC and becoming a director like Michael Bay (her favorite movie is “Transformers”). She wants to cure cancer and help other victims of domestic violence. Or she might become a math teacher, because she loves algebra.

Whatever she chooses to do in the future, Maria knows one thing for sure.

“I’m going to do what I love, I’m going to help others and I’m going to be happy.”

Through the generosity of Times readers, along with a match by the McCormick Foundation, more than $1.6 million was granted last year by the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign.

The Summer Camp Campaign, part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a McCormick Foundation Fund, supports programs that provide thousands of Southern California’s at-risk children ages 7 to 17 with enriching, educational and fun camp experiences.

Donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law and matched at 50 cents on the dollar. Donor information is not traded or published without permission. Donate online at latimes.com/donate or by calling (800) 518-3975. All gifts will receive a written acknowledgement.

sophia.lee@latimes.com