240 Summer Programs. Four Area Codes. One Free List.
We built the summer guide the Central Valley and East Bay never had.
If you’ve ever tried to find a summer program for your kid in the 209, you know what doesn’t exist: one place that has everything.
Not just the district rec guide that stops updating in April. Not just the YMCA. Not just the one camp your neighbor mentioned. Everything — the STEM programs, the arts camps, the free options, the overnight programs, the ones that take kids with special needs, the ones that include meals, the ones with bus pickup.
We built it.
What’s in the database
240 programs researched and verified by DFP editors, covering:
209 — San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties
916 — Sacramento and Placer
707 — North Bay
925 — East Bay
Every listing is filterable. You can sort by free programs only, low-income friendly, overnight, meals included, transportation available, and inclusive/special needs.
Type filters: Day Camp · STEM · Arts · Sports · Nature · Academic · Faith · Farm · Overnight
Why we built this
Investigative newsrooms aren’t supposed to build summer camp databases. But we cover equity in education and local government across one of the largest underserved regional news zones in California — and the summer gap is an equity issue.
Families in Manteca, Stockton, Lathrop, Richmond, and Fairfield don’t have a regional resource that consolidates what exists, flags what’s affordable, and keeps it current. The parks and rec PDFs don’t cut it. The Google searches return national aggregators that don’t know the difference between Tracy and Turlock.
So we built something that does.
How to use it
Select your area code
Filter by what matters to your family — cost, type, accessibility
Verify dates and pricing directly with the program before registering
All listings are verified by DFP editors before publication. Data compiled March 2026.
Know a program we missed?
The guide has a submission form built in. If you run a program or know of one that should be on the list, submit it — our editors review every submission before it goes live.
Share this
This guide is free. It will always be free. The best thing you can do is put it in front of a parent who needs it.
Forward this email. Post it in your neighborhood Facebook group. Drop it in the school parent chat. If you’re a teacher or a school counselor, bookmark it.
The parents who need it most are the ones least likely to find it on their own.
Dismal Freedom Press is an independent investigative newsroom covering education, civil rights, and local government across California’s Central Valley and East Bay. We don’t run ads. We don’t take money from the institutions we cover. We’re supported by readers.
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