A group of high school students has banded together to make sure that East Palo Alto nonprofit CoolineKids continues its mission of providing free summer camp opportunities for low-income kids to enjoy a safe space and learn through play.
The camp’s founder, Christian Sbragia of East Palo Alto, was only 9 years old when he noticed a pressing problem in his community: There weren’t safe places for kids to play outside of school. In 2013, he founded the nonprofit CoolineKids and eventually turned his fourth-grade dream into what became a free summer camp for East Palo Alto kids staffed and taught by local teens.
This year, in the wake of Sbragia’s unexpected death at only 19 years old, the mantle has been picked up by local high schoolers who had all worked at the camp in previous years. Program Director Sahil Srivastava (Palo Alto High School), Marketing and Outreach Director Evie Filipek (Menlo-Atherton High School), Communications Director Kamila Medina (Mountain View High School) and Activities Director Chloe Bloom (Crystal Springs Uplands School) have put together a program for the kids that includes cooking, arts and crafts, robotics, boxing, dance and other activities for the kids to learn.
“Christian was a mentor to me,” said Srivastava. “For the three years that I worked with him, he taught me everything about running an organization, from writing grants to creating the camp programming. The time he spent personally investing in me is why we are able to continue this program.”
Filipek said she admired how Sbragia was able to start a camp from scratch when he was just a kid and said that being able to speak Spanish helped her build trust and make sure every family felt included.
They won’t be able to offer the full-day weeklong programs the camp has done in the past but they have scheduled a series of sessions and family events for kids from kindergarten through 8th grade:
- Saturday, June 21, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., KidsCamp at Bloomhouse at 2555 Pulgas Ave., East Palo Alto
- Thursday, July 3, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., KidsCamp, location TBD
- Saturday, July 19, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., KidsCamp at Bloomhouse
- Thursday, July 24, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Family Zoo Event at Palo Alto Jr. Museum & Zoo
- Saturday, Aug. 2, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., KidsCamp at Bloomhouse
- Thursday, Aug. 7, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Family Art Event with Art in Action, location TBD
Each camp session is free and will offer a free lunch and morning and afternoon snack, thanks to sponsorships from local businesses. The camp has 17 teens working as counselors, about half of whom speak Spanish.
Registration is open now at www.coolinekids.org