East Boston: Week 5 of Camp

By Bro. Bob Metell, SDB

(East Boston, MA – July 30) – This is week five of the Salesian Boys and Girls Club’s summer camp program. The summer is simply zooming by! I stopped by the Dollar Tree store for arts and crafts items, and Lord behold, the clerks were putting out Halloween and Thanksgiving items!

The summer camp, like the Club’s after-school program, is broken down into age groups. This week, I would like to focus on the middle-or-pre-teen group. Three years ago, their room was completely remodeled with the aid of the Boston Celtics Foundation. The ages of the middle group are 9-12 years. On Friday mornings, I hold the orientation program with them, which has faith based moral and leadership development.

Like the other groups, they come from a wide range of social-economic and faith backgrounds. Also like the other groups, their activities and events are age-proper. Their room is designed with the same equipment as the other groups with a computer lab, large-screen tv, and general gathering room with sofas, chairs, carpeted floor and table game areas. They also have a scheduled gym activity time, and outdoor activities. They have volunteer opportunities and often help the staff with various chores, or me in the kitchen.