Camp can lead to a positive outlook

Friday, June 28, 2002 | 2:29 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: June 29, 2002

A 12-year-old boy has had a rough year. He was unexpectedly moved from his home and school. Despite that, he has worked hard to maintain a positive outlook, his father says. He is a student in the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program.

"It would be a tremendous boost for him to attend camp this summer," the father says.

Two sisters age 10 and 12 have also had a difficult year. Their mother left the family, and the girls have been in and out of Child Haven. Right now they live with their grandmother.

Their school counselor recommended that they go to camp to experience the joys of childhood.

The grandmother of an 11-year-old boy believes summer camp will help him adjust to many changes in his life.

"It may be a positive that may ignite a light for him," she says.

After his mother's death in 1999, the boy was placed with his sister's father. Less than a year later, he moved in with an aunt and uncle. When his aunt became ill, the boy went to stay with his grandmother.

"Being separated from his sister and mother, shifted from house to house, which is rough for anyone, the boy is loved but is feeling confused," the grandmother says.

The boy has tried to "fit in," but the grandmother says he needs more positives in his life to help him build a brighter future.

You can help send children like these to camp by joining these latest contributors to the Sun Camp Fund:

Marilyn E. Surnow; Dorothy A. Wagner; Atkinson Family Trust; Congresswoman Shelley Berkley & Dr. Lawrence Lehrner; Dollie Craig; Albert and Eleanor Gutierrez; Iris and Alexander Konopka; Robert and Patricia Patterson; L.M. Tucker; and James and Judith Kropid.

Roger W. Watson; Helene L. Fager; Ned H. Wilk and Dessie M. Mitchell; Fran Fine; Roger and Cheu Queen; Roger and Helen Hall; Aldeane Ries; Jacqueline Green and Jack Smith; Betty and Leo Nolan; and Rosemary Czarnecki.

Helen J. Daseler; Carole and Arthur Irons; Emery and Dolores Yatcko; Thomas W. Smith; Sierra Health Services Inc.; Maria A. Rabbio; Harriet Bernard; Austin and Evelyn Flaherty; and Beatrice R. Langley.