RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The end of the school year is fast approaching and some parents are struggling to find something constructive for their children to do this summer.
Radio One’s “Miss Community” Clovia Lawrence is hoping the Richmond community will support her non-profit initiative called “Send a Kid 2 Camp.” Lawrence hopes public donations will help give hundreds of kids a positive experience this summer.
The kickoff event happens Thursday, June 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in Richmond’s Jackson Ward neighborhood.
“Folks can stop on by your viewers and they can make a donation so we can send a kid to camp again and keep them in safe and structured environments,” Lawrence said. “In other words, do you choose camp over crossfire?”
Lawrence said the effort started more than 16 years ago when her godson Alex died.
“We lost him at the age of 12 at play and his mom and I, in our tears, we swore that another kid would not be hanging out and not be in structured environments,” she said.
More than 1,300 kids have benefitted from the Send a Kid to Camp effort. Last year the program saw its biggest success, providing 345 scholarships for camps in the metro-Richmond area.
“We’re talking about 5 camps this year and we wanted to choose camps that will be reminiscent of all children,” Lawrence said. “Our typical children, children of incarcerated parents, children of addiction and also our special-abled children we want to send to camp this summer.”
“We want to keep them safe, we want to give them an opportunity to explore their minds, we want to teach them about arts and crafts and most importantly we leadership ability and workforce development. It’s that important.”
Anyone who can’t make it to Thursday’s give-a-thon at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia can log on to projectgivebacktocommunity.org to make a donation.
