The Belize Camping Experience stepped up its fund-raising drive to secure funds to meet the expenses of conducting their summer camps to impact the lives of children.

Twenty acres of rice were planted and harvested in the Blue Creek area of the Orange Walk District, and the children assisted in both endeavors. Money received from the sale of the rice will be used to sponsor next year’s summer camp for the children.

Alexander Perez, the director of the Belize Camping Experience Organization, said that the organization is a nonprofit religious organization that sponsors summer camps for underprivileged children throughout the school vacation, to give them the opportunity to have fun, spend quality time with other children their age, and to carry out life-changing experiences by planting crops, monitoring their growth and harvesting the crops.

In enhancing the entire experience, organizers take children to the farms to have a firsthand experience of the harvest, and for some of the children, it is the first time they leave the city for a visit to the different areas of Belize. It is a joyful experience as the kids socialize with other children in the Blue Creek community and played games, said the organizers.

Perez said that the summer camps have already begun, and children from around the city are invited to come and participate, and the camps are free of cost. Fifteen hundred children can be accommodated at the camps for the week at five locations, he said, and added that the camps are divided into mornings and evenings.

In the mornings, the children can attend from 8:30 to 11: 30 and in the evenings, from 1:30 to 4:00, for a week, after which the camp will be relocated to another location around the city.

Perez said that the program is being expanded to Orange Walk, and Belize Sugar Industry has joined in the initiative by funding part of the expenses for conducting a summer camp for about 50 children at Chapel School.

However, in trying to procure the money for next year’s camp this year, $5,000 is needed to cover the expenses of the rice harvest, so that after the rice is sold, one hundred percent of the money the organization receives will be used to finance the summer camp, Perez told us.

If the organization does not meet the targeted amount, Perez said, it will affect next year’s summer camp.

Also collaborating with the Belize Camping Experience is Circle R Rice Company, which pledged a percentage of each sale of their rice products towards the program.

Each acre is expected to yield about three thousand tons of rice, equivalent to 60 sacks. A thousand dollars per ton in revenue is expected, said Perez.

Perez told us that the hope is that for next year, organizers will collaborate with cane farmers and BSI for 20 acres of land, to be given to the organization for five years, on which they will plant and harvest sugar cane, among other initiatives.

Perez said that also for this year’s summer camp, 5,000 cookies have been made for the children by volunteers in Belize City, Cayo and Orange Walk. Perez wants to say a heartfelt thanks to Circle R Rice Company and the farmers who assisted the organization in planting and harvesting the rice, and for the use of their machines.

He also says thanks to other people and organizations, and to the volunteers who assisted the organization, and to those who ensured the smooth running of the camps. He is extending an invitation to children to attend the camp events in their areas. The camps will be ongoing throughout the summer.