Washington native and football superstar Terrance Copper is giving back to the Beaufort County community this coming week. Copper will be hosting a football camp next Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. next Saturday. Other NFL players with ties to the eastern North Carolina in C.J. Wilson and Vonta Leach — as well as Willie Smith, Tony Collins and Jason Horton — will join him in teaching the area’s youth.

John Lampkins and Washington girls’ basketball coach Ralph Biggs will hold a basketball camp on Saturday immediately following the football camp.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to come back and give back to the kids,” said Terrance Copper. “I think it does more for us than it does for the kids. It’s something we really enjoy doing. We really enjoy being around kids, teaching them and inspiring them.”

Copper and company are focused on more than just the camps. They will also host a series of kids’ nights out on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday’s location is Hwy 55 in Washington. Thursday’s night out will be at Zaxby’s in Washington. The first 100 kids on each evening will eat for free.

“We usually have the camp and the cookout, but we wanted to do something a little different,” Copper said. “We wanted to feed the kids throughout the week and encourage them to sign up for the camp.”

They will host a community cookout at Festival Park on Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. Among the featured entertainment will be a basketball scrimmage between the NFL players and the Beaufort County First Responders.

“It’s a way to get the kids out so that we can register them for the camps, but also we can intermingle with them,” said Washington Police-Fire Services Crime Prevention and Community Outreach Manager Kimberly Grimes. “It’s a partnership between Terrance Copper and the Washington Police-Fire Services. We focus on what Washington police is doing and creating a positive relationship with out community.

“It came about with us putting our heads together to find out different projects we can do that can get the kids more involved. … It’s really just fostering the relationship. We were trying to think of creative ways to get kids involved before the camps.”

Each evening leading into the camp provides the county’s youth more opportunities to meet NFL players that have made a mark in the area. Copper looks forward to each chance to perhaps teach the kids something, whether it’s on or off the field.

“(Leach and Wilson) do a great job giving back,” Copper said. “They’re all local guys that made it. It’s just a way to inspire kids. It doesn’t matter where you come from. You can achieve your goals. It doesn’t necessarily have to be football. Whatever goals, if you put your mind to it, you can achieve it. It doesn’t matter where you’re from.”

Copper added that he would like to strongly encourage any kids interested in learning more about football or basketball to sign up for the camps. He also said he’s excited for the chance to meet with the county’s youth.

“From Wednesday through Saturday evening, it’s going to be a great time and a great experience,” he said.