Children learned many lessons during their time in the Picayune Police Department’s Summer Camp, one of which was about giving back to their community.
This was the 13th year for the local camp that has shown several groups of children police officers are their friends and have valuable lessons to share.
During the weeklong event campers heard from a state trooper about bullying and making the right choices in life, said Picayune Police Department Capt. Theresa Milar.
Suzan Wilson with the Rotary Club of Picayune took time out of her schedule to hold a manners class for the children, while a representative of Picayune Taekwondo gave the kids a demonstration before sharing his lesson on making proper choices in life.
The children also got an opportunity to ride an Amtrak passenger train to Hattiesburg where they were met by a bus that took them to a Laser Mania Game Systems, Milar said.
But the most important lesson the children may have taken away from the camp was about helping citizens in their community.
To do that they held a bowl-a-thon, where children, business leaders, and camp volunteers sought sponsors to help them raise money that would be used to not only buy a handicapped accessible swing to be installed at Friendship Park, but also use some of that money to buy food for senior citizens living at the Pines apartments on Kingsway Drive. By receiving money for the amount of pins that were knocked down at the event, or through up front donations, the fundraiser brought in about $8,000, Milar said. Those funds were used to buy food and gift certificates for Pines apartments residents and will also be used to install the handicapped accessible swing.
After filling the bags with goodies, the children visited the residents of the Pines on Thursday and served them cookies and drinks before helping them carry large bags filled with food to their personal rooms. A raffle was also held during the event where winners received prizes such as toiletries or gift certificates to local businesses.