You have a chance to give deserving

young people the opportunity

to have an experience that will

likely last them a lifetime. You can give

teens the same magical week of camaraderie,

challenge and personal growth

that you probably had as a kid – or, at

the very least, always wished you had.

I’m talking about summer camp and

all that comes with it: swimming, hiking,

archery and more.

Camp Concord is an amazing place,

owned by the city that bears its name

and situated on a beautiful piece of

Sierra wilderness in South Lake Tahoe.

Founded in 1967, it offers campers a

quintessential village-like arrangement

of cabins, which includes a dining hall

and activity room, access to a stunning

lakeside beach, and acres and acres of

wooded wonderland in which to play

and to explore.

Camp Concord is a place where

young people can discover something

new about themselves as they spend a

week away from home for perhaps the

very first time. It is a place that can fire

the imagination and forge new friendships

as teenagers come together at

mealtime, around a campfire or during

countless activities designed to teach

and to test.

But, of course, the chance to reap all

of the special experiences that come at

camp, while a relative bargain, is still

out of reach for many local families –

especially these days. That’s where you

come in.

Friends of Camp Concord is a nonprofit

organization started by a friend

of mine, Dave Goldman, to make sure

that as many underprivileged kids as

possible get the opportunity to have a

summer camp experience at least once

in their lives. Dave is a dear man, a

good friend and someone who deeply

believes in the importance of a week in

the woods for a child.

Camp Concord is a part of who Dave

is at his core. He was a camper as a kid

and a counselor when he was in his 20s

and has never forgotten the impact of

either experience.

“It’s an environment where kids are

safe, where they can run around and

not have to worry about outside influences,”

Dave says. “It’s a very simple

life and it really allows you to recharge

you batteries and to think about your

life a little bit and to have a great time.”

Recognizing the need to make this

opportunity available to more young

people, Dave started the Friends about

15 years ago. I am proud to say he got

me involved in those early days to help

raise money and awareness. To that

end, Dave and I will be holding our

annual charity golf tournament to send

as many teenagers as possible to Lake

Tahoe next summer.

This year, the Dan Ashley Friends of

Camp Concord event will be held at my

home course, Oakhurst Country Club

in Clayton, on Sept. 28. It is a terrific

day of golf for a great cause that culminates

with a dinner and auction that

evening.

The proceeds will send several hundred

Bay Area children to Camp

Concord on a full scholarship for a

week. Many of these kids have never

even had the chance to leave their

immediate surroundings, much less

leave city life for a few days to connect

with the natural world and to mix with

kids from different backgrounds and

life experiences.

“What do you think you get out of

Camp Concord?” I asked one young

camper name Kelly, who lives in

Concord.

“Well”, she answered, “you learn

friendship, life skills and everyone gets

a little more mature here.”

One of the most powerful aspects of

the program is that no one knows

which campers are on scholarship, not

the other kids and not even the counselors,

so there are no socio-economic

dividing lines. Every kid gets to be just

like every other kid.

I’ve spent time with some of these

teenagers and can tell you firsthand

that a week of innocent, carefree fun at

Lake Tahoe has had a profound and

lasting impact on many of them.

Tim, another young camper,

described the growth process that he

went through during his week in the

woods. “It teaches you not to be so

dependent,” he says. “When I first

came here, I was really dependent and

I was really scared about going out and

meeting people and I finally did and I

learned how to trust them. It’s a lot

easier to get through the day knowing

that I have someone to talk to or to

depend upon if I need anything.”

In an era when young people are

wired together by modern technology

but conversely detached in other critical

ways to the world and to the people

around them, a week away at summer

camp can offer a glimpse at the carefree

days of childhood from a simpler

time.

The first day or two, kids at camp

are not sure they will survive an entire

week without social networking sites,

text messaging and cell phone calls to

friends. But as the uncomplicated purity

of a week away from our high-tech

world, with days of games and activities

and nights capped with camp fires

and laughter, begins to work its special

magic, campers find that they don’t

miss any of it, at least for a week.

Kids have so many more opportunities

and resources than we did in our

youth, but sometimes, it seems, not as

much no-strings-attached fun. Video

games are great, but so is Kick the Can

or Hide and Seek. What children today

have gained, they have also lost.

What Really Matters is that

young people today are still given the

occasional chance to break away from

the modernity of the world in which

they live to find the Huck Finn in

themselves out in nature, in the woods,

under the stars.

I ask you to help me make that possible

for as many deserving young people

as possible once again this year by

supporting Friends of Camp Concord.

You’ll find a link to our Website by

going to www.myconcordian.com.

Many thanks.

Dan Ashley is an anchor at ABC-7

News and can be seen weeknights at 5,

6 and 11 p.m. on ABC-7 and at 9 p.m.

on KOFY-TV20.

For more information on the
Friends of Camp Concord
click HERE

For a PDF brochure on Dan's
golf fundraiser event click HERE

Contact  Dave Goldman
President, Friends of Camp Concord
925-389-1984 or
dave@friendsofcamp.com