The Troop 1954
Wednesday Newsletter

 Boy Scouts join effort to foster antiviolence; It will lend camp to groups working with city youth
Copyright 2005 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
June 4, 2005 Saturday
By Margo Rutledge Kissell

The Boy Scouts are joining an experimental collaborative partnership with at least five Dayton churches this summer to combat youth violence.

When Ken Wade, executive director of the Miami Valley Council, Boy Scouts of America, learned of plans for a "summer camp" at area churches intended to get kids off the street and give them something constructive to do, he placed a call to the Rev. Allen Foster, who is coordinating the effort.

Wade offered free use of the 180-acre Cricket Holler Camp in Butler Twp. one day each week during the six-week camp so up to 150 youths, ages 5 to 15, can experience an outdoor adventure.

"I'm certainly happy to see this effort and other efforts, versus the rhetoric we've been hearing," Wade said. "This camp and other efforts can make a difference. It can't make a difference by next year but maybe it can start lessening the violence."

So far this year, four young people - ages 4, 17, 19 and 20 - have been shot to death and several others have been injured. On Tuesday, a 12-year-old Detroit girl visiting the area was shot in the thigh while she was standing with several adults and children on Stanford Place.

The issue of youth violence has been a focal point for a number of community groups that have held forums, marches and prayer vigils.

Foster, former pastor of Bethsaida Missionary Baptist Church, has worked with nearly 300 at-risk youth since 2000 as executive director of the nonprofit. Young Disciples, Inc. Discipline is a major component of his life skills mentoring program, which also offers youth advice on abstinence and avoiding the peer pressure of fighting.

Young Disciples has offered a small summer program at Mount Hebron Baptist Church for the past three years. Foster was concerned the violence could get worse this summer if kids had nothing to do. That convinced him to reach out with the summer camp idea. Four initially signed on to participate, including Mount Hebron, 108 N. Williams St.; Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church, 1720 Linnbrook Drive; Zebulun Missionary Baptist Church, 5001 Genessee Ave.; and Harvest Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 3323 Highview Hills Road.

The non-denominational God's Lighthouse Community Church, 4105 Annapolis Ave., also has agreed to participate, and officials at two other churches are talking to Foster about possibly joining.

"Our church is going along with him on this because we believe that children do need a place to be during the summer that would keep them out of trouble," said God's Lighthouse pastor, the Rev. J.J. Prewitt.

All of the participating organizations have offered the use of their facilities for free, which Foster calls "a blessing." Funding, however, continues to be a challenge.

Foster's nonprofit is collecting donations from the community for the summer camp. For more information or to donate, contact him at (937) 329-0920 or rev.foster@earth link.net.

Wade said the Boy Scouts agreed to allow the campers to use Cricket Holler without charge even though the funds were not budgeted. The scouting organization will pick up the cost of lunch and program materials for the campers and will use volunteers to supervise activities, ranging from archery to field sports.

The Boy Scouts will trying to raise money "to underwrite this program" during an annual luncheon at RiverScape on Friday. The cookout is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and each meal costs $6.

Wade said his organization was looking to do some partnering this summer as part of its urban initiative, that was created in 1996 with $40,000 start-up funds from United Way. It now has up to 30 different scouting programs in East and West Dayton, most of them affiliated with churches or schools.

"What (Rev. Foster) is doing ended up being perfect for what we wanted to do as a service, with the bottom line of getting these young people into scouting," he said.

The six-week camp is open to all Dayton children, boys and girls, ages 5-15, although any teen who will be returning to high school in the fall also is welcome, Foster said.

Already, the number of planned participants in the summer camp is approaching 100, he said.

Parents can sign their children up from 2-4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday during information sessions at Mount Hebron Baptist Church.

The structured summer camp will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, June 13-July 22.

Willie Walker, president of the Urban League, is pleased to see so many groups working together to help give youth constructive activities to do over the summer.

The Urban League and Wright-Dunbar Inc. are providing support for a summer arts camp being offered by Dayton Public Schools and Riverbend, a city-run arts center. The camp will serve 135 students in fourth through eighth grade at Edison Elementary School, 228 N. Broadway St., from July 18 to 28. Kids can try painting, sculpture, drawing pottery, dance, music, drama, creating writing, computer arts and video production.

"I think all of this is healthy," he said. "We need all of those efforts, plus more, because we won't be able to cover all the youth," Walker said. Dayton City Commissioner Dean Lovelace said he hoped the Youth Anti-Violence Forum he sponsored with Commissioner Joey D. Williams in January would spark people's imagination in finding ways to respond to the teen violence problem.

"Folks, in fact, have gotten up and stepped forward, which is what we were urging them to do. "The faith-based community has made a major step in the effort," Lovelace said. City commissioners will discuss recommendations that grew out of the January anti-violence forum during next Wednesday's 10 a.m. meeting.