When he heard two prominent Mainers, one of whom was Stephen King, recalling their days at summer camp with vivid fondness, Libra Foundation President Owen Wells knew that his organization was doing the right thing.

The Libra Summer Camp Scholarship Program was started in 1998 and offers $1,000 in summer camp scholarships to youths enrolled in the third through sixth grades in the Bangor, Lewiston and Portland public school systems.

“They remembered everything about it,” he said of the two men who chatted about which cabin they stayed in and whether they were members of the Polar Bear Club.

“Forty years ago they went to camp and can still remember the name of the cabin they stayed in,” Wells said. “That’s telling, it seems to me.”

Each summer, the Libra Foundation sends about 4,000 children away to summer camp where they participate in a variety of activities and interact with other children.

To be eligible, students must meet good citizenship guidelines as determined by their school principal and complete some form of community service.

With the $1,000 scholarship, each student can attend up to three Maine summer camps of their choice. These three programs are administered by United Way organizations across the state.

It’s difficult to measure the success of such programs, Wells said, but this year he and his staff attempted to do just that by talking to parents, school administrators, teachers – and the children themselves.

Backed by an analysis done two years ago by the National Center for Student Aspirations, the results came back “very positive,” according to Wells. He noted that the real test would come years down the road.

“The objective measure [we] may never know about,” he said. The true results won’t be seen for another 10 years or so when these same children graduate from high school and can credit the influence of a camp counselor for their decision to go to college, Wells said.

For now, he said, it appears that children are benefiting from the program, and that’s what really matters.

Of the approximately 15 children and parents whom Robie Anson of the Libra Foundation interviewed recently about the program, more than half claimed that their child’s self-esteem and social skills had improved as direct results from camp.

“Cam’s experiences at [Bangor’s] Camp Molly have been instrumental in developing his self-confidence and social skills,” parent Jennifer Grover said in her interview with Anson about her son’s camp experience.

Police in Lewiston have told the foundation president that, during the summer, they don’t see as many children on the streets in what they consider the bad areas of town.

“I think that what’s happening is these kids are going to camp and learning these positive values,” Wells said. “I think that when they’re doing that they’re not out experimenting” with drugs and alcohol.

In Bangor alone, more than 400 students and their families participated in a citywide cleanup day, picking up trash in more than a dozen city parks.

Wells said the variety of camps being offered now also is helping. “When we think of camp we think of some multibuilding facility on a lake someplace, but the vast majority of camps that kids are going to aren’t like that at all,” he said. “It’s extraordinary how many new camps there are.”

Places like the Windover Art Center in Newburgh, where children learn a variety of visual arts skills, offer alternatives to traditional summer camp activities such as swimming and canoeing.

“It seems to me that the creative economy is alive and well,” Wells said, referring to the many schoolteachers and coaches who now are making a contribution to the youth by holding summer camps instead of painting houses to supplement their incomes.

“It gives me great confidence in the youth,” he said. “Good kids doing good things.”