DMC RUNS A CAMP FOR FOSTER KIDS!

Most of the foster kids at an upstate camp weren't even alive when its co-founder rose to fame as a rap pioneer.
They just know the Queens native as the guy who creates a safe place for them during the summer to talk about the difficulties they face in the child welfare system.

"These kids say, 'I am just a foster kid. I have nothing going for me other than just being miserable,'" said Darryl (DMC) McDaniels, who co-founded Camp Felix. "I tell them, 'You are wrong. Your situation doesn't define who you are.'"

Hundreds of kids ages 8 to 14 have made the trek to Peekskill, swapping stories of fear, abandonment and their struggles with identity. They form bonds that organizers hope will last a lifetime.

"We are a family," said McDaniels, sitting among 171 campers from New York City last week.

McDaniels, 46, has a special insight into identity issues, having learned in his mid-30s that he was adopted as a 5-year-old.

"I was hurt, confused ... it felt totally unreal," he recalled of the mind-boggling discovery. "At the time it meant that they are not my mom and pop."

While it first threw him for a loop, learning that he was adopted never held him back.

The Hollis rapper was part of the hip-hop trio Run-DMC that ruled the charts in the '80s. The group was the first in hip hop to earn a Grammy nomination, score a platinum album or appear on "Saturday Night Live."

McDaniels also won an Emmy for his 2004 documentary "DMC: My Adoption Journey," which chronicled his emotional search through court records and other obstacles to finally meet his birth mother.

Two years later, McDaniels met "Sopranos" casting director Sheila Jaffee, who learned when she was 11 that she also was adopted. The two of them formed the Felix Organization, targeting kids in foster care. The nonprofit - named after an imaginary dog that was adopted by a family of cats - shells out $500 per camper each summer. About 350 children have attended the three-week camp in Westchester County.

The buzz around Felix is growing: Actor Mark Wahlberg donated $100,000 to Felix, and former "Sopranos" star Lorraine Bracco is honorary chairwoman of the group.

Davon Davis, 19, a product of foster homes, is now a counselor at Camp Felix.

"I grew up in foster care," Davis said, adding that he can relate to the kids. "They feel no one cares about them, so they don't care about the world.

"They come here and get love and support. They become good people."