Hiking through the great outdoors, setting up camp in the wilderness, building lasting friendships and honing in on survival skills are experiences no Scouts should have to miss out on. So when Long Beach, Calif., residents discovered some kids needed a helping hand to make those adventures possible, they jumped at the chance in a big way.

Long Beach Press Telegram readers donated more than $70,000 to the newspaper’s Send-a-Kid-to-Camp program, sending nearly 200 area youth to Camp Tahquitz in the San Bernardio National Forest.

Financial aid made it possible for Long Beach Area Council Scouts to “see the sun rise over a mountain, set up a tent, cook outdoors and form meaningful relationships with adults and peers for the first time in their lives,” said Boy Scout Development Director Marc Bonner to Press Telegram.

New experiences and challenges beckoned the Scouts from every corner of the campgrounds. From scaling the heights of the camp tower to hitting the bullseye at the archery training area, Scouts explored the depths of the 6,500 foot elevation site and gazed over picturesque views of the mountains and sky-high ponderosa pines.

These Scouting experiences “shape a boy into a young man of skill and leadership abilities,” Camping Director Glen Goddard said. And he thanked Press-Telegram readers for their generosity in making this life-changing experience happen attesting, “they will be forever grateful.”

Read the full story on Press Telegram to learn more how the Scouts lived it up at Camp Tahquitz.