Mariah Carey gives campers a treat
ITY youths enjoying the great outdoors at the Fresh Air Fund's Camp Mariah had a surprise visitor this week. The pop star Mariah Carey, who has kept out of the public eye in recent weeks since her hospitalization for exhaustion, stopped by the camp in Fishkill, N.Y., that is named for her. After the 140 campers finished dinner on Wednesday evening, Ms. Carey, who has supported the camp financially, strode through the dining hall doors, bringing dessert.
While Ms. Carey, 31, talked with the children, a Mister Softee ice cream truck served up treats. She also gave each camper a portable compact disc player and a copy of her current single, "Loverboy". As Mariah Carey songs blared from the public address system, campers cheered and sang along. "The whole atmosphere was like a rock concert," said the fund's executive director, Jenny Morgenthau.
Desiree Gilmore, 13, of Queens, said: "We were all so excited to meet her. She said she was happy to come, she came a long way and was happy to see all of us." Miriam Seidenfeld, the director at Camp Mariah, learned on Tuesday evening that Ms. Carey would be visiting the camp. "It was a hard secret to keep," she said. On Wednesday afternoon, when Ms. Seidenfeld told campers, "they all jumped up and down, cheering," she said.
Although Ms. Carey usually visits once or twice each summer, it had been uncertain whether the singer would make it this year. But she wanted to see the campers, said her spokeswoman, Cindi Berger. "She loves the camp and adores the children," she said.
During her two-hour visit, Ms. Carey sat briefly at every table, signed autographs and posed for snapshots. "They hugged her, and she hugged them," Ms. Morgenthau said. Kleaver Cruz, 12, of the Bronx, said, "She autographed my shirt on the right sleeve." Kleaver said he was happy to speak with Ms. Carey face to face, rather than just listen to her sing, but he was unable to recall what she said, exactly.
Camp Mariah opened in 1994. Each summer, the Fresh Air Fund sends nearly 300 city children, ages 12 to 14, on four-week vacations there. The camp's theme of career awareness is reinforced through classes about career skills, an annual career fair and job-shadowing field trips throughout the school year. Meeting Ms. Carey was a reward for the campers' focus and an example of the camp's values, Ms. Seidenfeld said. "The kids feel really special, and it shows that hard work pays off," she said (New York Times)
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