WASHINGTON — Summer is just around the corner and for some kids in the D.C. area, the price of admission is too high for their families to bear.
The YMCA is one place that hosts camps and works to make it available to children who can and cannot afford to go.
“Without the summer camp here in the community, I think that we would have a lot more incidents with children getting hurt, going missing or getting in trouble,” said Marcus Taylor with the YMCA Capital View in Southeast D.C.
Ahead of the end of the school year, the YMCA is asking the community to donate to help fund scholarships for kids who live in the D.C. area.
“Every dollar, every quarter, every cent that you give is saving a child’s life; it’s helping shape it and giving them experiences that they’ll never forget,” Taylor said.
The average price of a camp is in the hundreds of dollars and for Marlene Best, the price of paying for four kids to go would be tough.
“Financially, it would be difficult to provide for each one individually,” Best said.
During the camps, kids swim, dance and take field trips to destinations all around the area. Best said it has helped her 15-year-old son Mathias grow into a young man.
The staff, she said, helped her son learn how to form friendships, work with others and how to be a leader. Best said parents are also invited to take part in the activities that forms a stronger bond among parents and their children.
“It was just a fun experience for me, to be able to participate in things that I didn’t do before,” Mathias Best said about the camp.
The teenager says he is thankful that people were kind enough to donate to the fund which awarded him a summer camp scholarship.
“They should donate because it would get other people to go to this summer camp,” he said.
You can donate to the scholarship program through WTOP’s Charities page.
