What Can UniCamp Do for a Child?

For those who have been directly involved with UCLA UniCamp throughout our 74 years, the benefits of camp are known. But it is often difficult to explain what the benefits of UniCamp are to those who haven't had the privilege of being a camper or counselor themselves.

According to the 2006 Census, in Los Angeles nearly 40% of residents are unable to meet their basic needs, 1/3 of full time workers earn less than $25,000 a year, and more than 20% of the county’s children live in extreme poverty. According to the California Department of Education 76.5% of the students within The Los Angeles Unified School District qualify for the free or reduced lunch program, which is UCLA UniCamp’s target population. Add to this already dismal equation skyrocketing health costs and increased costs of living year over year in Los Angeles, and you have a vast population of hard working families searching for a helping hand.

Many people may ask what the importance of summer camp is in this very dire context. According to the American Camp Association, who has completed exhaustive research on the subject, (and whom UniCamp is proudly accredited by) the outcomes of the camp experience include the following:

Social Skills Development
Leadership, Communication, Participation

Self-Respect and Character Building
Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Resilience

Community Living/Service Skills
Caring, Fairness, Citizenship, Trustworthiness

Every child needs these basic character attributes in order to become happy, healthy and compassionate adults. Not every child is given the chance to develop these skills in such a positive and safe environment as summer camp. The average summer camp can cost between $400 and $600 a week. UCLA UniCamp strives to provide this invaluable experience to every child.

For low-income and foster children, our target population, these traits can become invaluable. According to the American Camp Association, all of the primary outcomes of camp build personal competencies. The skills that camp can teach, in partnership with their parents and community, can become the building blocks for these children to bypass roadblocks and forge ahead.

A 2005 study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children watch 6 ½ hours of television each day. The CDC estimates that 21.6 percent of low-income children are overweight. A 2006 study funded by the Nature Conservancy showed that since 1987 overnight trips to national parks and monuments have declined by more than 25 percent. Cornell University’s Dr. Nancy Wells showed that “being close” to nature boosts a child’s attention span, and when evaluating a Forest Service survey of adults, found that participation in “wild nature” activities—hiking, camping, fishing and hunting—before the age of 11 will lead children to actively care about the environment. And finally, according to the Sierra Club, only 15% of California's children participate in environmental education programs, and a majority of these students are from high income areas.

Ultimately, all of these studies are an empirical affirmation of what we already knew - that nature is good for kids on almost every level. UCLA UniCamp helps kids in the most essential of ways. UniCamp exposes children to the natural environment all around us, gets kids out of their homes and encourages recreation and FUN without electricity, and prides itself on teaching children the value of preservation, community and environmental stewardship. UCLA UniCamp allows us the opportunity to escape the city, to distract participants from their everyday expectations and boundaries. Participants are surrounded on all sides by nature, community, and UCLA Student Mentors. For 8 days and 7 nights, Camp River Glen is home to each child, a home that is so very different from what they usually know, that they cannot help but expand their vision and expectations of what may lay ahead.