The 24-foot trailer was packed and ready: sleeping bags, towels, backpacks and other items needed for a free four-day summer camping trip for children of incarcerated parents.

But late last month, the trailer was taken from the parking lot where a camp volunteer was storing it in Anaheim.

Elizabeth Vallejo, who co-founded Camp Agape California with her husband, said the items were part of the faith-based organization’s broader mission: supporting prison families by creating a space where children can heal, practice forgiveness and build lives. She hopes the camp can help them avoid becoming caught in the cycle of the criminal justice system.

Research studies have shown that children of incarcerated parents are more likely to experience mental health challenges and develop antisocial behaviors. They also face an increased risk of substance abuse and are more likely to enter the criminal justice system.

Vallejo said the four-day summer camp held in September in the San Bernardino Mountains is part of the effort to lessen those risks.

When the trailer was stolen, the loss sparked frustration and anger throughout the camp. Vallejo said she personally went through the five stages of grief. At first, she was in a state of shock, describing her mind as being in a fog. As reality set in, so did the anger.

“You messed with the wrong ministry because you stole from God,” she recalled telling herself, as if addressing the thief or thieves.

The incident appeared to have tugged on something much deeper. It reminded her of the losses she had experienced in her own life.

She thought back to her mother, who took custody of her niece and nephew when her sister died at the age of 21 and the kids’ father was serving time in prison.

“I saw the hardship of [my mother] raising her grandchildren,” she said.

In 2017, when she and her husband launched Camp Agape California, Vallejo said she was tested in profound ways. Her daughter was diagnosed with cancer and endured aggressive treatment before recovering. That same year, she lost her mother.

Amid the grief, she found comfort in the camp’s purpose, creating a place where children of incarcerated parents could feel supported, something she wished had existed for her mother when she was caring for her sister’s kids.

Despite the emotional weight of that year, Vallejo and her husband pressed forward and launched the camp. The first year, she said, they had 110 children and very little money.

“Little by little we were growing,” she said.

So did their stock of items purchased over the years: coffee makers, games, camping equipment, banners to welcome the children on the first day of camp, along with a red carpet.

Videos on the nonprofit’s website show children stepping out of luxury buses, walking between camp volunteers who welcome them with applause and cheers.

This year, the camp expects to have more than 200 children, evidence of the growth that’s happened over the years. The camp, which operates under Breaking the Cycle, a nonprofit they launched last year, has about 200 volunteers.

“It takes an army to make the camp happen,” she said.

Vallejo said many children who age out return to the camp as volunteers.

Despite the loss of the trailer and its contents, Vallejo said she, her husband and the volunteers will press on.

“We still have the camp, we have the children, we have buses and the volunteers,” she said. “Camp’s gonna happen.”

She said the camp teaches children about forgiveness, so she and her husband put that lesson into practice by forgiving the people who took the trailer.

In an effort to recoup what they’ve lost, they took to the fundraising platform GoFundMe to raise approximately $28,000. So far, as of Friday, they’ve raised $26,900. The couple have already replaced the stolen trailer.

“We know God’s gonna come through, so let’s wait and see what he does,” she recalled telling her husband one day. “We walk by faith.”

Journalist Sonali Kolhatkar has chronicled the world through her progressive lens from Los Angeles since 2002, most famously as a longtime host on KPFK 90.7 FM but also via essays, stories, speeches and books.

Her latest effort, “Breaking ICE: Community Defense against State Terror and MAGA Fascism,” is one of the first book-length accounts of President Trump’s second-term campaign to deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible. Kolhatkar places a special focus on what Los Angeles went through and is undergoing — and how it’s fighting back.

She’ll debut “Breaking ICE” on Sept. 3 with a book signing and talk at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena at 7 p.m. Kolhatkar answered a few questions from yours truly. Our conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Why do you think people should read a book of interviews with people fighting against Trump’s deportation deluge when folks can just tune into social media and get bite-sized, instantaneous outrage?

I don’t want to dismiss social media, since many of the people I interview belong to organizations that use it effectively. That said, my book is designed to go deeper and requires a longer attention span. But because it’s a collection of conversations, it’s readable.

There are so many important voices you included in your book, and so many others you and I know should be included. How did you decide who to highlight?

I wanted to balance frontline activists, like Pablo Alvarado, Ron Gochez, and the late Kent Wong, with academics such as Yohuru Williams and Ibram X. Kendi and storytellers like Josefina López, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Favianna Rodriguez.

I also knew it was crucial to draw the links between U.S. wars in Latin America and migration, so folks like Roberto Lovato, who wrote the book’s foreword, and Luis Rodriguez, are included.

And I felt it was critical to center Black thinkers and activists like Robin D. G. Kelley and Richard Wallace, who are applying abolitionist frameworks to ICE. ICE agents are police. Abolish ICE is in the same vein as Defund the Police.

What’s the common thread you want readers to connect with each person you interviewed?

That victory is possible and that people’s courageous pushback against ICE is working. It’s too easy to feel discouraged these days. Social media, and frankly, corporate news media are designed to deluge us with bad news.

But the reason ICE changed its tactics earlier this year is because people fought back successfully in cities like L.A. and Minneapolis. It doesn’t mean ICE is less dangerous now. On the contrary. But it means that activism works and that it must continue.

You’ve been a chronicler of the fight for amnesty for undocumented immigrants and against mass deportations since 2002. What terrifies you about this moment and inspires you about this moment?

I’m terrified at how the dehumanization of immigrants has become so normalized, and of the rise of inequality and billionaires — all of which fuels scapegoating and authoritarianism.

At the same time, the demographic shift in the U.S. is here to stay, and people of color are using everything at our disposal — including the tools of elites — to beat them. Plus, at the risk of sounding cliche, our culture is our weapon. The lessons of the civil rights movement, the language and songs of homelands, our stories, music and cuisines, have so much power.

You dedicated your book to your late sister Sameera. How did her untimely passing push you into writing this book?

My sister and I were separated by borders for reasons all immigrants are familiar with. I would have had more time with her while she was alive if we lived in the same country. I know what family separation feels like, what it means to navigate the labyrinths of immigration, to live with the knowledge that we may never again see our loved ones because of institutional hurdles designed to separate us.

Start pre-ordering your copy now, folks.

Today’s top stories

Toxic underground fires are spreading at California landfills

• A rapid burn has caused one slope of a major L.A. area landfill to warp, threatening a collapse and spill of toxic liquid.
• If you live near a landfill and have experienced an abnormal spike in odors or other issues, we want to hear about your experience.

Mystery surrounds ex-Marine’s possible motives at Trump golf course

• Authorities are trying to solve the mystery of a security guard accused of weapons violations after he visited Trump’s golf course twice in advance of the president’s visit.
• The man is not being charged for any crimes in relation to Trump, and authorities have not determined a motive.

Researchers sound the alarm on unregulated use of peptides

• Social media and a growing distrust of public health guidance has caused consumer demand for experimental peptides to skyrocket over the last decade.
• Now, the clamor over unregulated peptides has become a high-stakes policy battle within the federal government.

What else is going on

• ICE’s healthcare payment system collapsed. Are detainees still getting off-site care?
• Rising temperatures could keep more flights from taking off on time.
• Utilities threaten action if lawmakers fail to cut their wildfire liability risk.
• The Trump administration overhauls Head Start, largely giving up federal control.

Commentary and opinions

This morning’s must-read

Another must-read

For your downtime

Guests in the dining room at A Tí in Los Angeles.

(Ron De Angelis/For The Times)

Going out

• Food: An Echo Park charmer started as a bar. Now it’s one of L.A.’s defining modern Mexican restaurants.
• Movies: Dystopian rom-com “One Night Only” bans sex and general plot coherence.
• Travel: Take a look at this Charming Victorian inn with a cocktail parlor, organs and no screens that opened just outside L.A.

Staying in

A question for you: What’s the best spot for people watching?

William B. writes: I find a big easy chair to sit in at the Last Bookstore in downtown L.A. The best spot to people watch.

Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.

And finally … your photo of the day

Marc Papas, who is currently 79.74% done with biking the entirety of the Los Angeles area, wants to prove that L.A. has the potential to be the best biking city in the world.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Today’s great photo is from Times photographer Kayla Bartkowski of cyclist Marc Papas, who biked 5,840-plus miles in one year to find out whether L.A. is the world’s best biking city.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
Shi Bradley, audience intern

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.