"I
think the strongest benefit of the camp to these economically
challenged kids, is that at least for one week, they just get to be
kids,” Deputy Julie Lathrop of the Chemung County Sheriff’s
Office said. “For one week no adult stuff, no money issues, no worry
about where they are going to spend the night or where they are going
to eat.”
Deputy
Lathrop feels that the Sheriffs’ goal of providing a forum for children
to interact with police officers in a non-threatening environment has
been a huge success.
“I
would say that these children get to see law enforcement as real people
that honestly care about them,” Lathrop said of the camp program. “They
no longer see a uniform – but a face and a person behind the badge. A
person that wants to be their friend, their mentor.”
The
“streets” of Elmira were pulling Ty harder than his Mom could pull
back. She wanted him to encounter something positive. Deputy Julie
Lathrop, provided that opportunity when she nominated Ty for Sheriffs’
Camp.
Ty loved the fi
rst year so much, he begged to come back a second year. Julie made sure
there was a spot for him. He couldn’t return a third year as he had
aged out. But Julie suggested that he focus on becoming a counselor.
“I
told him to work hard in school and get good grades, do positive things
in his community and home life and Dave Sherman would hire him as a
counselor,” Deputy Lathrop recalled. “I kept a close on eye on his
progress and he not only excelled in the classroom but also on the
athletic fi eld.”
The
following year Ty’s goal was fulfilled, he became a junior counselor at
the Sheriffs’ Camp. “That summer, Ty learned the true meaning of
patience and responsibility,” Julie recalled, with a prideful smile.
“Ty would continue to come back as a counselor, but his academics and
sports had taken him a in a new direction. The right one - toward his
new goal of college.”
Julie Latrop calls Ty’s experience and the hundreds of other ones she has experienced the “magic of Sheriffs’ Camp.”
She
also predicts that once Ty gets settled in college, he’ll be back as a
counselor sharing that magic with the next generation of deserving
campers. |
