Arizona Daily Star readers donate generously to help send to kids to camp

We send local kids to weeklong YMCA, Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts) and Girl Scout overnight camps, as well as overnight camping at Camp Tatiyee for school-age children with special needs. New last year were scholarships for Flowing Wells students to go to the overnight Sky School camp on Mt. Lemmon. We plan to expand our Sky School camp partnership in 2026 to fund additional children from Title 1 schools. 

In 2025, we received 1,094 donations totaling $279,542.56 and spent $256,252 on scholarships to send 423 Southern Arizona boys and girls to camp. We are expanding our sponsored camps in 2026 to the University of Arizona Sky School at the Steward Observatory atop Mt. Lemmon. The four-day, three-night science camp will draw from middle and high school students at Title 1 schools. 

Our goal is to raise $275,000 to send at least 400 kids to weeklong YMCA, Scouting America and Girl Scout overnight camps, and Camp Tatiyee, for school-age children with special needs. We’ve expanded our fundraising to send up to 400 more children from Title 1 schools to two shorter overnight camps: Sky School camp, an overnight science camp atop Mt. Lemmon, and to Camp Cooper, a desert exploration camp on Tucson’s westside. 

The annual donation envelope will appear in the Star later this month. 

Since 1947, the Sportsmen’s Fund has helped pay for 44,814 children to go to overnight camp. We’re one of the oldest 501(c )(3) charities in Arizona and one of the most efficient, with 97 cents from every dollar going to send kids to camp.

Your contribution to the Arizona Daily Star Sportsmen’s Fund Send a Kid to Camp fund qualifies for the Arizona tax credit for donations to qualifying charitable organizations. Our code is 20450. Joint Arizona filers can donate up to $987 for 2025 taxes and $1,009 for 2026 taxes. Other Arizona filers can donate up to $495 for 2025 taxes and $506 for their 2026 taxes. Donations made during 2025 or from Jan. 1, 2026, through April 15, 2026, can be claimed on the 2025 Arizona income tax return. Our EIN is 86-6053274, which is needed for some fund transfers.

Credit-card donations and details on the camps we sponsor: azsendakidtocamp.org

Send checks, payable to Sportsmen’s Fund, to: Send a Kid to Camp, P.O. Box 16141, Tucson, AZ 85732-6141

For more information: Debbie Kornmiller at 520-954-3139 or [email protected]

Donations are welcome throughout the year.

Recent donations include:

Lynn Aldrich, in memory of Harley Aldrich, $25.

Aztec Sheet & Coil Corp., $50.

Michael and Maria Bubla, $400.

Margaret Hendrickson, $100.

Craig Hilligas and Lori Petersen, $500.

Michael and Robin Kaiserman Philanthropic Fund held by the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, $250.

Anne Maley-Schaffner, $500.

The Salpointe Class of 1967 Lunch Bunchers, $50.