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Day Camp
| Name | Linda Wilson | | Situation | Youth in Lee County are limited in supervised informal educational activities. The high school provides some extra-curricular activities, however youth who are not yet of high school age and are not apart of a sports team or music program have little or nothing to sustain them into the off seasons. Transportation, hours of availability and cost are all limiting factors. Unemployment is high and the average working family income is $30,000.00 and below. With many of the working parents commuting out of the county, some as far as Myrtle Beach, it is still difficult for those families to take advantage of these opportunities. Past research has shown that youth, overall, with no structured supervised leisure activities tend to resort to negative behavior. Gang activity has increased among the youth within the county and has become one of the largest behavioral problems throughout county. The majority of the programs that come into Lee county seem to focus only in the Bishopville area, leaving the youth in the surrounding rural communities without the benefit of these resources. Lee County's one school district has facilities located throughout the county, some of which are not in use, but could be used to house activities for the under-served youth.
| | Response | The local Extension Service, through its USDA State Strengthening
project CYFAR (Children Youth and Families At Risk), recognized these challenges as opportunities to help the youth. is concentrated in one such community, Lynchburg, SC. One of the goals of the CYFAR project in one community was to foster a positive recreational and educational environment for its youth. The local County agent, along with Parks and Recreation, met to pool resources to serve the Lynchburg youth. A meeting was held with the Lynchburg Recreation Committee to discuss possibilities and to gain community support. The next step was a meeting with the Lee County School Superintendent to request facility usage and district support.
The outcome of this effort resulted in a four-week day camp program targeting youth ages six through twelve. The camp operated Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 2 p.m. The camp averaged forty-five youth participating daily in activities. Parks and Recreation provided stipends to employ five staff members from the community with a salary of $7.50/ hr and one youth helper at ½ salary. The local Extension Office through an Inter-generational Fitness grant (BR4IC) provided supplies and materials costing approximately $2000.00. The Lee County school district provided the facility with waived fees which would have averaged $800.00, four academic tutors with a salary of $22.00 / hr, and janitorial support at $7.53 / hr. Lunches for all participants were provided through the USDA Summer Lunch Program.
| | Impact | Youth in the rural areas of Lee County participated in positive activities, which included leisure and outdoor recreation for fitness, academic tutoring in math and reading, and community service activities. Other organizations and individuals became involved in the educational activities and programs. For example, Lee County Council On Aging included the camp in their weekly activities by busing the seniors to the site to interact with the youth through games and discussions. Youth now gained an opportunity to learn from intergenerational experiences. In addition, local Master Gardeners assisted with instructing and leading the group in community service activities. Local entrepreneurs visited the camp and shared with the youth their skills.
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Last update3/19/2008
This website is maintained by Tomika Orgbon.
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