City will again run Moochie Turk Summer Youth Camp

The Moochie Turk Summer Youth Program once again will be run by the City of Gonzales after the Gonzales City Council voted 4-0 Thursday, June 12 to direct the Parks Department to hold the four-week camp from Monday, June 23 through Friday, July 18.

The city had been negotiating with the YMCA Gonzales Center on an agreement that would have given the YMCA $12,000 in exchange for sponsoring up to 50 children to attend nine weeks at the YMCA Summer Camp at Gonzales Elementary School.

However, City Manager Tim Crow said he had learned that the allocation by the city would have only funded 12 children for the summer camp instead of 50.

“We are prepared to move forward if we brought the camp back under the city and just put it on ourselves and opened it up to our community for the demographic that maybe the YMCA isn't able to serve at this time, or the demographic that doesn't get served by the Thrive camp that goes on (from Gonzales Healthcare Systems),” Crow said. “I would recommend that we just bring the camp back under the purview of the city.”

Parks Director Ralph Camarillo said he did due diligence to determine when GISD summer school ended and when Thrive was holding their summer program. Summer school ends June 26, while Thrive camp starts July 7, which prompted Camarillo to look at scheduling the Moochie Turk camp for June 23 through July 18.

“The summer school kids would only miss a week and we would pick them up for the last three weeks of the program,” Camarillo said. “I am so glad this is being brought back up again. Keeping this program is not just providing a program, it's about investing in our future for the city by supporting its youngest residents and the families raising them.”

Camarillo said he has worked with Gonzales County ESD No. 1 to get coaches certified for Stop the Bleed, First Aid and CPR. Lifeguards are being certified so they can give free swim lessons to kids. He has also reached out to Gonzales ISD to get cheerleaders, the drill team and athletes to come teach the campers skills.

“The biggest thing is I wanted to get them out so we get the community involved,” Camarillo said. “The kids can learn the dances and cheers and when their parents take them to games on Friday nights, they can cheer right alongside the cheerleaders. It’s an engagement. This is what we need and what we are looking for.

“When these kids’ parents take them to these sports, they see the high school kids and they look up to them as a role model. And these athletes and cheerleaders are then giving back to our community. We're showing our future leaders that they can give back to our community as we all have believed in — we all have one common goal.”

Camarillo said the Moochie Turk camp “supports working families” in Gonzales.

“Many parents rely on summer programs to keep their children safe and engaged during working hours and a free half-day program eases the financial burden and gives the family peace of mind,” Camarillo said. “The other thing it promotes is equality and access. Not all families can afford paid camps, so free programs ensure all children, regardless of income, have access to enriching summer activities, helping close the opportunities gap.

“It encourages healthy development. This program includes physical activities, arts, social interaction, mental, emotional, physical growth during the summer months and building community engagement. It strengthens the community ties, bring families together, offers volunteer opportunities and creates shared space for positive engagement.”

Camarillo also spoke about the need to “reduce youth boredom and crime risk.”

“Idle time during summer can lead to risky behavior,” he said. “Structured activities reduce a chance for youth getting involved in unsafe situations.”

YMCA Board President Connie Kacir spoke to the council during public comments about the YMCA’s initial $21,000 proposal. She noted that the city's position was “leaning more toward having the children served with no financial documentation required, allowing 50 children to attend for free, allowing those scholarships by the city funds, not to provide any financial information and to attend for nine weeks.”

She offered a new proposal that would serve 60 children with a scholarship for 100 hours, or a two-week full-day program, without requesting financial information from families and that it would be offered to the first 60 children from Gonzales that signed up to participate in the program.

However, councilmembers voted to direct city staff to again run the summer program and to provide it for four weeks for four hours a day at no cost to any child that wishes to attend.