One hundred foster kids, many who have never been part of a family or gone to camp, are spending the week learning leadership skills at the National Guard Training Facility at Camp Blanding in Starke, Fla. The goal is to give these kids hope for the future.
The $150,000 cost of the camp was covered by donations to the Myron Rolle Foundation and corporate contributions, according to the Capitol News Service.
The camp idea is the brain child of Department of Children and Families Secretary George Sheldon.
“The fact that the kids can do this really shows how you can overcome your fear," Sheldon said.
The idea also came from football star and scholar Myron Rolle.
“Regardless of if you don’t have a stable family, regardless of people pointing a finger at you and saying you can’t do it, that you’re not supposed to do it, that you’re going to be a statistic, that, you know, 90 percent of foster kids don’t make it, look that in the eye, push it aside, and continue to move forward. That’s what I’m hoping to instill," Rolle said.
Rolle's message and the example he’s setting seems to get through to kids like James from West Palm Beach.
“It seems like he hasn’t had the perfect life either, so I could see how I could do the same things as him," James said.
In the end, some of these kids may still end up a statistic, but for others, they may just learn the leadership tools to be different.
Leadership Camp Gives Foster Kids Hope
by TV20 News Desk · Jun 18th 2009 · See more Local News
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