Help send a kid to camp

It’s nearly summer and that brings us to camp season, and the subject of camperships. These are scholarships provided from community-donated funds to send low-income Burbank school children to either overnight or day camp for a week each summer.

The Burbank Coordinating Council has sponsored the Campership Program since 1936. The program allows many children aged 8 to 18 to experience the joys and excitement of camp. They learn leadership skills, along with self-help and self-confidence.

Each family pays $25 per camper as a token amount and the council supports the balance. Costs are now rising to $450 to $500 per camp week, so we are asking for help. All donations go directly into the fund to pay for these children who otherwise would not be able to afford the luxury of camp. The higher the donations, the more children we can send to camp. More than 50 have applied this year, and we are short the needed funds to accommodate them all.

Many children come from families where life is hard. Camp is their only opportunity to relax and just be kids. A week away at camp can change a life for a child, since they bring back more than happy memories. They also bring a raised sense of self-esteem and self-reliance.

We still get letters from campers telling us what a special time it was and how they feel better about themselves from the experience. They are happy to tell us about new friendships they have formed and they come back hot, sweaty, dirty and with great big smiles.

One girl who had just lost her mother said that her week of camp was the most important time she could remember. She simply felt good being away and being a kid for one special week since she returned home after camp to face helping her father raise three younger siblings.

Please consider sending a donation of any amount to help us this year. Your donation is tax-deductible, using our 501c3 tax ID 95-6116051, and we will gladly provide a receipt. Call us at (818) 843-3699 or (818) 216-9377, or email jrdiel@aol.com with any questions.

Again, thank you for your assistance. Your participation is the key to the success of the Campership Program. You make a big difference to these kids.

Janet Diel

Burbank

Editor’s note: Diel is president of the Campership Program.

Bus riders would pay to play

A lot of kids take the Got Wheels! bus after school to get home, mine included (“Wheels come off transport program,” June 1).

Instead of taking away the buses completely, they should charge the parents 25 or 50 cents a day, with as many kids that take the Got Wheels! bus it would pay for the gas, the salary and the maintenance.

I know that as a parent of kids that take the Got Wheels! bus, I would be more than willing to pay a small fee for them to be able to ride the bus instead of walking home in 100-degree weather.

Fanny Sabina

Burbank