new logo....

We are very excited to share our new logo with everyone.  There it is...

We hope you love it as much as we do!

time flies...

The deadline for our Returner Application is only 3 days away and we're hoping to receive some New Volunteer Applications before the deadline on January 29th.  Although camp isn't until July 5th we are starting things off early this year with the hope of having our best camp to date.  Every year it gets better and better!  If you would like to make a difference in your own life and in the lives of these children please contact us about applying for camp.  If you can't volunteer a week in the mountains we have a lot of ways that you can volunteer from home.  Please email us at kidsnetla@gmail.com with any questions.  If you can't volunteer your time you can also donate by clicking the yellow button to the right of this entry. We can't wait to see some new faces added to our family!

for unto us a child is born...

and what better a reason to gather together? This past Sunday came together as a family to take a Christmas photo and sign cards for our precious kids as we do every year. We were blessed to be able to gather at a dear friend of Deanna's beautiful home in the Hollywood Hills. We hope that our cards find their way to the children we hold so dear and that it brings them love, joy, and peace. As always our hearts are with them as they navigate the waters of the holidays.  For most of us the holidays bring JOY and FAMILY and all things BEAUTIFUL.  For a lot of our children the holidays are just another day.  As you enjoy all things seasonal keep our beautiful children in your mind and if you can, in your heart as well.  Enjoy this Christmas!
Much love, joy, and peace,
Kids-Net LA

(front row from left to right: Ryan, Jerm, Tom, and Jason.  Behind them from left to right: Cameron, Marcus, Heidi, Bruce, Kenny W., Chanel, Carly, Deanna, Jax, Ashley S., Stefan, Anastasia, Matt, Susan)

We missed those of you who missed our Christmas Party!

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” Hebrews 12:28

Today, in light of all thoughts of thankfulness, it is impossible for us not to think of our camp. We are glad for our kids who have been, beyond imaginable, our teachers of love.  Our volunteers, who our camp could not be, day-in and day-out, without the selflessness of. Our supporters, who without we would have no means for a camp. And last, but definitely not least, an amazing God who oversees all that is and all that will be, placing every step in front of us just as it should be. 

We are looking forward to another year to which the planning is a great deal underway!

If the World were a village with only 100 people

I've heard about this way of depicting our world's people before but today when I heard it again I thought about it in a different way. Usually it has a way of hitting me strong and serves as a reminder of just how blessed I truly am. Today when I heard it, it made me think about our kids.  In terms of the world our children are a small percentage. To us, they are our world. 

Here's how the breakdown goes:

If we could reduce the world’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific



51 would be male, 49 would be female



82 would be non-white; 18 white



67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian



80 would live in substandard housing



67 would be unable to read



50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation



33 would be without access to a safe water supply 



39 would lack access to improved sanitation



24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do 
have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)



7 people would have access to the Internet



1 would have a college education



1 would have HIV



2 would be near birth; 1 near death



5 would control 32% of the entire world’s wealth; all 5 would be US citizens



33 would be receiving --and attempting to live on-- only 3% of the income of “the village”

This information is taken from Family Care Foundation (familycare.org)

Hopefully after reading this you feel the same way I did, BLESSED, beyond blessed. So blessed in fact that it moves me to desire a greater daily sense of belonging to the world.  Makes me want to use myself in anyway that is possible to make the lives around me more joyful.  From my smiles, to my time, to my gifts; I want to give in all the ways that I can because WE BEYOND BLESSED.  

If this moved you in the way that it moved me and made you want to give shoot us an email about giving time, money, and your talents to our beautiful children. 

Much love!

happenings between our weeks at camp

As life continues on for me I am humbled by the trials that our wee ones go thru. It was recently that we found out that three of our campers from this past year went thru something beyond our nightmares and worries. These three are of ten children in total to one mother. Only a week or so from returning from camp, with all children in their home, the house was lit on fire. Details aside, all kids were in the house and had to quickly be moved from their home to other foster homes willing to quickly take them in. They lost everything! They have since been reunited with their mother and are attempting to get back to life before school resumes.

Since hearing of this saddening story we have rallied the troops of our family and friends and taken in donations from “hand-me-downs” to cash. The hand-me-downs were gone through and cleaned and the cash was used towards the necessities that weren’t proved thru the hand me downs and that were needed as school began again. Even the most basic, like socks and underwear, was beyond what was readily available to them.

With the blessings bestowed on us we did what we could to provide what we could. This Tuesday a few from our team took a trip to the Section 8 housing where the ten children are currently living with their mother in Watts, California. When we arrived I was quickly humbled by the “home” in which they live. We are beyond blessed, beyond taken care of. The home that we arrived at was “cleaned-up” as those who had been there before me worded it. There were bars around all the windows, dogs around barking and howling. As we entered the mother who looked painstakingly tired greeted us. Most of the ten children were at day care/summer camp, but the two who were there were shyly grateful for what we had brought.

It is these times between the weeks of camp that we hope to be there for our kids. Some of these stories we hear and can do all we can to help. Others we will never hear about. (Either we have no connection to the service providers or the children will never tell the tale.) The point being that our hope is that the love we share with these kids while they are in our hands will give them the power they need during times like this.

To those of you who were a part of the giving, we are eternally grateful, as is the family.

“Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others. “ –Barbara Bush

Today I've been thinking a lot about our kids. For many of our adult volunteers it's a rough transition coming home. Not waking up to children yelling. Not being greeted with hugs and smiles. Not breaking up fights. Not wrapping up our munchkins in sun-warmed towels when they get out of the chilly lake. Not writing and receiving letters from the mail. Not winding down the kids for bed. We are brought back to the reality of the city and a much faster life, filled with things that seem much less important. We miss our kids and we miss them a lot. As the time continues on we get stories filled with happy memories shared with caretakers. However, we also get some stories from case carriers of a reality that our kids come home to much different than ours. One that is accompanied by loss, and heartache, and many switches from home to home. It reminds me of how much love needs to be shared. It reminds me that even when it seems like there is too much work to be done with this population we have to push on. The feelings we feel are expressed well in this story written by Mr. Milbrandt;

The Starfish Story

While walking on the beach one day, I saw Starfish by the score.

And everywhere I looked it seamed, I saw a thousand more.

Then what to my surprise appeared? A boy of nine or ten.

And as the Starfish washed ashore, he threw them back again.

I smiled at his exuberance and noticed his frustration.

"One fish won't make a difference son; You can't change this situation"

He stooped and picked up one more fish, then looking right at me.

"I can make a difference for this one sir," and he tossed him back to sea.

So I went and gathered all my friends, my brothers and my cousins.

We joined in with that little lad to save Starfish by the dozens.

There are many to rescued. Many "Starfish" on life's shore.

And you can make a difference too...by saving just one more.