Summer Camp Campaign: Santiago Burgos finds inspiration to sing

Santiago Burgos has many fond memories of summer camp, but he most distinctly remembers the campfires. Every night over the crackle of the fire, all the campers would burst out in songs together.

“In camp, everyone just sings out loud,” Santiago said. “Not everyone can sing, but they can shout. It’s such an open environment.”

The 16-year-old junior at Dr. Olga Mohan High School in L.A., mellow-eyed with dark, longish hair that curls down to his collar, calls himself a shy individual who was once afraid to open up to people.

But Santiago said that attending two week-long camps operated by UCLA UniCamp, a nonprofit organization linking the university with the community, has instilled in him a fresh stream of courage. In fact, it was this new sense of determination that finally gave him the guts to start his own high school show choir.

“I wanted to re-create that environment [from camp],” said Santiago.

When school began last year, he asked his counselors for approval. They told him as long as he could find at least nine other students to participate, the school would support the show choir. Santiago went around the cafeteria during lunchtime, stopping table by table to ask people to join.

“A lot of them just laughed,” he said. “They said, ‘It’s not gonna happen. You’ll never make it.’ But we finally made 10 people.”

Santiago’s show choir was formed in November. The group met every day after school to practice, and has performed for the whole school a few times. Santiago’s favorite performance was when they sang “Looking Up” by Paramore, because he felt the lyrics represented the struggle and success of the choir’s formation — and his own personal development.

“If it wasn’t for camp, I wouldn’t be able to go up to strangers and ask them to join my show choir,” he said. “Honestly, [UniCamp] has changed my life.”

This summer Santiago is participating in UniCorps, a UniCamp service-oriented program for high schoolers. He will be assisting on-site staff in meal setups and various cleanups around the site. It is a lot of work, but every night he can look forward to the music awaiting him by the campfire.

“It’s really fun,” Santiago said. “I plan to return to camp for as long as I can.”

Through the generosity of Times readers, along with a match by the McCormick Foundation, more than $1.6 million was granted last year by the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign.

The Summer Camp Campaign, part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a McCormick Foundation Fund, supports programs that provide thousands of Southern California’s at-risk children ages 7 to 17 with enriching, educational and fun camp experiences.

Donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law and matched at 50 cents on the dollar. Donor information is not traded or published without permission. Donate online at latimes.com/donate or by calling (800) 518-3975. All gifts will receive a written acknowledgement.

sophia.lee@latimes.com