Camp Booth Brings the Outdoors to Los Angeles Kids
Now in its 8th year, Camp Booth is an annual camping trip for youth in our school aged programs held at Booth Ranches near Fresno. The weekend retreat is made possible by former board member and longtime supporter Loren Booth.
The trip started as a way to expose children to new experiences in nature with their peers. The impact of poverty and childhood adversity can limit opportunities for weekend outings like camping, and research shows that the development and growth experienced by youth on weekend outings can be transformative.
With bags packed, youth prepared to head north for a weekend in nature on Friday, October 5.
CII’s Watts Campus served as base camp. After being dropped off by family members, each camper was assigned a blue, green, red or pink t-shirt, which designated each child’s specific team for the weekend. Aside from a few siblings, most of the kids going to Camp Booth did not know each other at the beginning of the weekend.
Nestled in California’s Central Valley, Booth Ranch is near a picturesque river. Serving as a commercial citrus grove, the ranch also has horses and cattle. The campers, who had never been to a ranch before, had numerous questions about horses, livestock and fishing.
Along with the sights, a full schedule of activities ensured youth would get the most out of their weekend. A few of the highlights included petting horses, catching fish on the Booth Ranch pond and making s’mores by a campfire.
“I liked meeting the horses because I have never been that close to a horse,” one youth said at the end of the weekend.
Finding ways to overcome challenges
In addition to being a lot of fun, each of the activities helped the children learn and grow. Campers were split into four different groups where they learned to work together. Activities like catch, kiss and release fishing taught patience and an obstacle course showed perseverance.
One activity that was especially memorable for youth involved passing around a glowing soccer ball. On the first night, campers took turns with the ball as they shared their biggest fears for the weekend. Kids said they worried about things like missing home, not making friends and encountering bears. The campers then wrote down their fears and threw them into the campfire.
On the last night, they took the same ball and shared their highlights from camp. As many passed around the ball, they noticed the fears they had going into camp never happened. Campers got to experience firsthand the importance of overcoming fears to have meaningful experiences.
Allison Reidy, CII’s Development Coordinator and Camp Booth counselor, said it was great to see how kids grew over the weekend. She said some of youth were very shy to start the weekend while others were overly energetic.
“As the weekend progressed, the girls started to open up and make friends while the boys seemed to behave and listen to their counselors,” she said. “Above all, they got to be free and enjoy being kids.”
Learn more about CII programs that support school-aged children.