A Los Altos Town Crier Camp Scholarship Fund has been established in an effort to send needy youngsters to summer camps at Hidden Villa environmental farm and open space preserve in Los Altos Hills.
An endowment gift of $15,000 has been donated for the scholarship, aimed at sending underprivileged kids to camp.
Paul Nyberg, publisher of the Town Crier, encourages other companies and individuals in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View to help more kids go to summer camp at Hidden Villa.
An endowment fund is especially valued by nonprofit groups, according to Hidden Villa development director Shannon McEntee, because the fund "exists in perpetuity." Endowment funds are invested and while the principal is never spent, a modest part of the earnings is paid out each year and the balance of earnings is reinvested, she said. "A healthy endowment helps a nonprofit to weather a few years when gifts are scarce due to external factors, such as a recession," McEntee said.
Hidden Villa has two other named endowment funds: a $10,000 Katharine King Memorial Camp Scholarship Fund and a $10,000 fund from Steve and Diane Ciesinski of Los Altos Hills to support a class from East Palo Alto in Hidden Villa's environmental education program. Hidden Villa also has an endowment fund for general use.
The goal of Hidden Villa's summer camp is to bring together youth from all racial and economic backgrounds. "All the kids at camp have a chance to get to know one another and grow in acceptance and respect," McEntee said.
"It is always so heart-warming to see altruism in practice. I wish everyone in Los Altos could see the joy on the faces of campers who have never been on a farm or in the woods before coming to Hidden Villa camp," said executive director Judith Steiner.
Camp costs range from day camp for ages 6-9 ($240 per week) to 12-day "farm and wilderness" and "bay-to-sea" camps for ages 13-15 and 14-16 respectively, priced at $850.
Donations can be sent to the development office at Hidden Villa, 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills 94022.