CAMP OFFERS OPPORTUNITY, ROLE MODELS

Genesis signifies birth or creation. So it follows that Camp Genesis is the birth of a promising new program to help disadvantaged boys ages 11 to 15 in the region.

It grew from a pledge of four men who attended the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., in 1995. Frank Hollis, Tacuma Smith, Jerome Carr and Kourtney Wiggins dedicated themselves to improving the black community in their hometown of Cairo, Ill.

The four founded a successful trucking business and will now use profits to fund a series of week-long adventure camps.

But the camps aren't just fun and games. Each day includes a vigorous and mandatory two-hour math course that participants must complete. Once the work is done, boys will pursue biking, hiking, swimming, astronomy, archery and much more. Discipline will be an important component of the camps as well.

The program also stretches beyond the city limits of Cairo. Organizers are targeting boys from Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri and western Kentucky.

The camps alone are a wonderful concept. But the role models of these organizers may be the real secret to the project's success.