A grant from PotashCorp-Aurora will make campers out of some deserving young people in Beaufort County.

The Police Activities League is hosting a summer camp to be held at Camp Boddie, the Boy Scouts of America’s outdoor center that occupies part of the East Carolina Scout Reservation, 880 acres on the south side of the Pamlico River.

Now, PAL is looking for a few good campers — 25 of them — interested in spending an adventurous week on the river and in the woods, learning life skills and taking part in a host of activities.

The free camp runs from July 28 to Aug. 3, and it provides transportation, food, lodging and all camp activities to interested youth from the ages of 11 through 15.

PAL President Al Powell said the 25 spaces available are filling up fast.

“We have about 12 (children) signed up to date and expect more as the word gets out,” Powell said. 

For Powell, PAL experiences like the summer camp offer children the opportunity for the new and different, giving them wider exposure and building self-confidence.

“We will feature things the students have never seen, such as a field trip to PotashCorp, the U.S. Coast Guard station, presentations about science, technology, math and engineering career paths, remote-control boats,” Powell said.

In the meantime, the campers will be learning ways to make good life decisions and boosting their science, technology, engineering and math skills through elements of the Boy Scouts’ Venturers Program.

As part of PAL requirements, programs are designed to improve the relationship between “cops and kids,” according to Powell. To that effect, the Washington Police Department and Belhaven Police Department will participate in the camp experience, in addition to PotashCorp HAZMAT components, Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS Department, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and possibly the N.C. National Guard, Powell said.

For more information about the camp, contact Alvin D. Powell at 252-923-9482, Beaufort County PAL Secretary/Treasurer Barbara Robitaille at 252-975-6700, or visit the PAL website at http://beaufortpal.tigersix.net.