"We pack things up; he unpacks things. He doesn't want to come home," she says. "That tells me they are extremely successful in what they are doing."

What Camp Costanoan provides for people such as 22-year-old Adam Snyder--who is severely autistic--is a place where physically and developmentally disabled children and adults can express themselves through arts and crafts, sports, gardening and myriad other activities.

What it does for caregivers is offer respite.

Snyder has attended multiple camp sessions yearly since he was 10. Camp Costanoan has one camper who has attended 45 straight years. Over those years, the nonprofit organization that provides year-round weekend and summertime weeklong sessions has grown older, too.

Founded in 1955, Camp Costanoan--on 13 acres in Stevens Creek County Park--is middle-aged. It's time for a facelift, which is why Costanoan is about to embark on the largest capital campaign it has ever undertaken, says Paul Hepfer, vice president of program services. The venture will try to raise $5.4 million.

"We have served the community for over 50 years. This [money] will make it possible for us to serve the community for the next 50 years," he says.

Camp Costanoan is a program of Via Services, a private, nonprofit organization established in 1945, originally known as Crippled Children's Society of Santa Clara County. The agency focuses on enrichment programs for people with special needs.

Camp provides respite, residential and recreational services to people with disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome or cerebral palsy. The programs are age- and ability-appropriate.

Many campers keep coming back. Their ages range from 5 to 72.

"For our adult campers, this is their vacation," says Rick Frazier, director of camp and recreational services.

From September through May, there are weekend camps, where campers are divided by age and ability. For example, in March there is a "young adults" camp for ages 18 to 30. Almost 1,000 campers attend weekend sessions, and another 1,000 enjoy nine summer camp sessions ranging from six to nine days.

Campers gain self-esteem and social skills, and engage in hands-on learning and therapeutic recreation.

Tony Lawton, 12, has lived with his grandparents for most of his life. His grandfather, Bob Lawton, says Tony has attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities that amplify his unpleasant behavior.

"When he gets upset, he gets really upset," Lawton says.

That behavior makes schooling difficult. But after weekends at Camp Costanoan, Tony comes home relaxed.

In the four years he's attended camp, there has also been noticeable improvement in Tony's socialization skills, Lawton says.

This kind of success through camp experience comes through a variety of interactive activities. These activities include arts and crafts, music, drama, and activities in the camp's nature area, petting zoo and a horse corral, plus physical activity in two pools, one of which is wheelchair-accessible.

These things are available only to the campers, not their caregivers, because families of campers do not attend with them.

"This is actually one of the focuses of the program: to allow the parents to have a respite," Frazier says.

Parents or guardians who care for people with disabilities at home are on duty fulltime. Some of their charges need assistance getting dressed or opening a milk carton, and some need constant supervision for their own safety.

At camp, where counselors work on either a 3-to-1 or a 1-to-1 ratio depending on the needs of each camper, counselors work with campers on those life skills, believing that if a camper can master a task, it's one that won't need to be performed by the caregiver.

Task-mastering campers feel empowered and independent, Lawton says.

And for parents who have other children, sending a child with disabilities to camp, even for a couple of days, provides opportunities to spend a more time with the other children.

It's respite for the whole family.

The Lanterman Act, a California law passed in 1969, includes respite in its civil rights coverage, which provides support and services to people with disabilities and their families. About half of the campers' fees are paid by one of California's 21 regional centers.

Contracted by California's Department of Developmental Services, regional centers are nonprofit private corporations that provide or coordinate services for people with developmental disabilities. Santa Clara County is served by San Andreas regional center.

Weekend fees for Camp Costanoan range from $242 to $277, and summer camp rates range from $726 to $1,248.

In addition to the fees, a variety of sources, such as bequests, grants and fundraisers help keep camp running.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of the camp. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement when high school and college students perform thousands of community service hours at the camp. Students get practical hands-on experience working with children or adults with disabilities, and the camp gets caring, capable workers.

Each year, about 150 college students who are studying such subjects as special education, nursing, recreation or psychology volunteer at the camp, and some 200 area high school students earn community service hours, as well as a sense of giving back to the community, Hepfer says.

High school students, many of them living in Cupertino or Sunnyvale, act as cabin counselors or trail instructors for another extremely popular program at Camp Costanoan--Walden West.

Walden West is an outdoor science program that teaches fifth- and sixth-graders from schools such as Sunnyvale's Bishop Elementary School or Cupertino's Nimitz School about environmental science.

It is part of Santa Clara County Education services and brings about 3,000 students to Camp Costanoan for a four- or five-day residential stay. Teachers stay at camp with the students and conduct environmental sciences curriculum on the trails and surrounding campgrounds.

The larger clientele of Camp Costanoan learns less complex but equally important lessons. If a camper learns to shower on his or her own, button up a shirt single-handedly or pour a glass of orange juice without assistance, he or she has achieved greatness.

"It means they never have to ask someone to do it for them again," Hepfer says.

The camp is about to complete two sleeping lodges and has two under construction. It is still looking to update two more sleeping lodges, the sports courts, main lodge and various program areas.

The six sleeping lodges can accommodate up to 20 campers each, with six to eight staff members. Inside each lodge is a shower and bathroom facility.

The sports courts, where campers play such games as basketball and tennis, need to be resurfaced with a newer, more forgiving surface, and the path leading to the recreation area needs to better accommodate wheelchairs.

Frazier and Hepfer say the main lodge could use an update and remodel as well. It's the largest building on the property, where all the meals are served, where campers check in and check out, and it is the only building that can accommodate everyone--staff, volunteers and campers--at one time.

It needs repairs to the roof, ceiling and floor. The 50-year-old building has narrow hallways that need widening for wheelchair passage.

The wish list doesn't end there. Service groups such as the Cupertino Host Lions Club and De Anza Lions Club, and companies such as Stevens Creek Quarry have been generous, but technology keeps leapfrogging ahead of what the camp has in terms of computers and software. Other pricey, but useful, equipment is beyond the camp's reach.

"We've never owned a tractor. We are always at the mercy of whoever can donate their time," Hepfer says.

Last week, however, a slew of Timberland (famous for its outdoor shoes and clothing) employees spent an entire day working on the trails around the camp, building a wheelchair-accessible organic garden, and performing general cleanup on the grounds.

As part of the company's Community Builders Tour--a community service program that takes Timberland employees to different parts of the United States each year--some 150 employees from all over the country came to the Bay Area for a conference and to spend the day at Camp Costanoan.

Timberland offers employees paid time off to perform community service. Camp Costanoan was a perfect fit for this environmentally and socially conscious retailer.

Volunteer time and sweat equity are critical to the camp, but corporate partnerships that bring in cold, hard cash pay for what cannot be donated. Companies such as Amazon.com and Albertson's pass along cash through purchase programs.

The camp can earn a percentage of an order for the latest CD or book at Amazon, and Albertson's gives 4 percent of a purchaser's Preferred Card purchases when the card carries a link to Via Services, the parent organization for Camp Costanoan.

On May 5, Via will host a more traditional fundraiser--its 11th annual Via Ball.

Camp Costanoan is at 13851 Stevens Canyon Road, Cupertino. Donations can be made at www.viaservices.org, where volunteer information can be found and more information about camp schedules is available. Via Services is located at 2851 Park Ave., Santa Clara. Information about Camp Costanoan and Via Services is available by telephone at 408.243.7861.