KINGSTON - Two children are able to attend summer camp at Walcamp Outdoor Ministries and Retreat Center in Kingston thanks to receiving a scholarship from the Maria Ridulph Memorial Fund.

This year, Jaxon Elliot and Elyce Smith, both of Sycamore, are the scholarship recipients. Elliot attended camp this week and Smith will attend camp at the end of the month.

Elliot said attending Walcamp via scholarship was his first time at a summer camp.

“I learned archery and went swimming,” he said Wednesday. “It’s very fun. There’s lots of fun activities. I just want to say thanks because I’m having the best time of my life.”

Maria Ridulph was a 7-year-old girl from Sycamore who was kidnapped from Sycamore Dec. 3, 1957. Her remains were found in the spring of 1958 in a wooded area near Galena, Illinois in Jo Daviess County. Her siblings, Rev. Charles Ridulph and Patricia Quinn, established the Maria Ridulph Memorial Fund in 2015 to give children in the community opportunities they may not have otherwise.

The charitable endowment fund was created using proceeds from the book “Footsteps in the Snow” by Charles Lachman, the two-hour Lifetime movie that was created based off of the book and two books that her brother, Rev. Charles Ridulph wrote: “The Impact” and “Overcoming the Darkness.” The charitable endowment fund is managed by the investment banking company Raymond James.

Each year, two or three children are given a scholarship to attend Walcamp’s summer camp in Kingston through the charitable endowment fund.

“As a kid, summer camp was something I always looked forward to, it created so many happy memories in my youth,” Deacon Charles Ridulph said. “It is a way to pay it forward and make children happy, giving them happy summer camp memories as well.”

To contribute to the Maria Ridulph Memorial Fund, send a check to 129 N. Cross St., Sycamore, Illinois 60178.