As we do every summer, BYSC was once again at New Rochelle High School running a four week summer program called Camp Shape. More than 150 campers participated in one of three sports: soccer, tennis and basketball. Program participants are New Rochelle students who range in age from 7 to 15 and, while BYSC charges a small fee for the program, no child is turned away for inability to pay. In fact, more than 50 percent of this year’s campers received a full or partial scholarship.
On the final day of camp, a mother appeared in the doorway and approached Danny. She was accompanied by a young man who appeared to be around 20 years old.She introduced herself and then handed Danny an envelope containing $162 in cash. She explained that this was a donation to BYSC collected from that summer’s parents.
She then introduced her son, Miguel, who had attended Camp Shape for five summers when he was a teen. He told Danny he is now a junior at Penn State majoring in business administration. He then thanked Danny and explained that without the many skills he learned at Camp Shape, including the value of hard work, respect and integrity, he would never have developed the confidence to pursue a college degree.
It’s just another example of the difference BYSC can make bringing sports and recreation to underserved and special needs children in Westchester.
