For children, summer should be a season of discovery, friendship, laughter, and carefree moments that become treasured memories for years to come.

 

It is often the little things children remember most: running through sprinklers on a hot afternoon, the excitement of getting on a camp bus for the first time, sticky fingers from melting ice cream, learning to swim, creating art,

or playing on a team. These experiences help children build confidence, creativity, and a sense of belonging. They remind children that they are part of a community that sees them, values them, and wants them to thrive.

 

Every child deserves those moments.

 

Yet for many families here in the Berkshires, summer can bring stress instead of excitement.

 

When families are struggling to pay for housing, food, utilities, transportation, and childcare, enrichment programs and summer activities often become impossible luxuries.

 

As June marks Children's Awareness Month, it is important to recognize a quiet but painful reality: many children spend their summers watching opportunities pass them by simply because their families cannot afford them.

 

Camp registrations, sports fees, equipment, transportation, and activity costs add up quickly. In rural communities like ours, even getting children to programs can become a barrier. For parents already stretched beyond capacity, these choices can be heartbreaking.

 

At Berkshire Community Action Council, we see how deeply parents want these opportunities for their children. No parent wants to explain why their child cannot go to camp while friends can. No parent wants to see their child feel left out.

 

Summer enrichment programs offer children far more than entertainment. They help build confidence, friendships, creativity, and connection. They allow children to discover talents, explore interests, and simply have fun without the adult worries their families may be carrying day to day.

 

At BCAC, we try whenever possible to create moments of joy for children facing difficult circumstances. Each year, through the generosity of our community and volunteers, we take children living in homeless shelters on a special trip to Six Flags. For many of these children, it is far more than a day at an amusement park. It is a chance to laugh freely, splash in the wave

pool with friends, eat popcorn, and simply enjoy being children.

 

You never forget the excitement as they board the bus that morning or the laughter and stories on the ride home. For a few precious hours, the stress and uncertainty surrounding their families fades into the background.

 

But we also know that one trip cannot fill an entire summer.

 

There are many children in our community who could benefit from a camp scholarship, a sports program, an arts class, or simply the chance to participate alongside their peers. There are also many ways our community can help make that happen.

 

Local camps, youth organizations, libraries, arts programs, and nonprofits often rely on volunteers, donations, and scholarship support to keep their programs accessible. Sometimes helping means sponsoring a child for camp, donating to a scholarship fund, volunteering at a program, coaching a team, or helping provide transportation.

 

What may feel like a small contribution to one person can mean the world to a child.

 

A scholarship is not just financial assistance. It is confidence, friendship, hope, and a reminder to a child that their community cares about them.

 

This Children's Awareness Month, I encourage all of us to ask a simple question: what can I do to help a child experience joy this summer?

 

Because somewhere in our community, there is a child hoping they will not be left out this year.

 

A child hoping they will get to go to camp, join a team, ride a bus with friends, laugh without worry, and come home with stories to tell.

 

Childhood passes quickly. We cannot give children back the moments they missed. But together, we can make sure more children feel included, supported, and remembered. 

 

And sometimes, something as simple as one scholarship, one volunteer, or one act of kindness can become a memory a child carries for the rest of their life.

 

Deborah Leonczyk is executive director Berkshire Community Action Council.