Portsmouth community advocates host Peace Camp, Saturday Peace Day
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — It is Peace Week — as Portsmouth Public Schools students are out for spring break.
A Purpose Driven is partnering with several organizations to provide a safe learning environment during its third annual Peace Camp.
More than 70 students showed up Monday for the start of a weeklong camp with many activities, including STEM, gardening, sports, behavioral health, and art therapy.
This partnership is with Portsmouth’s Cavalier Manor Recreation Center and is for kids seven to 17-years-old.
Carlton Copeland, the executive director of A Purpose Driven, grew up in the Cavalier Manor gym and now, he is a basketball coordinator.
“I’m in this community … because I know what it did for me,” Copeland said. “Hopefully, we will continue to build relationships with our kids, like [how] the older guys did for me — that was my football coach and my basketball coach running a gym. I saw them do that. That’s why I’m here doing the same for the kids today.”
“God told me, ‘Go get the people. I’ll do the rest.’ Every time I do something, like this, God is in the midst of it, that he’s making relationships,” Copeland said. “He’s moving, he’s inspiring somebody. I just trust that he’s doing his will.”
The camp kicked off with a fun presentation about success with Dr. Tekita Blackwell.
“Every opportunity I get, I want them to see that I look just like you and I’m a doctor [of education],” said Blackwell, a former Norfolk public school science teacher, youth minister at New Hope Baptist Church and entrepreneur.
Copeland said that Wednesday the Portsmouth Police Athletic League or PAL will spend the entire day with the kids.
“A whole lineup of what they do — from safety, to bullying, to confidence, to make sure our kids are aware about safety and violence here in this city.”
Peace Week is also geared to inspiring the next generation and keeping the kids out of trouble.
“[When] people hear about Portsmouth, they hear about the violence, they hear about deaths and the shootings,” Copeland said. [Yet] there’s so much positivity in the city, me being an example. There’s a whole lot more [people] like me that I work with. We have volunteers here who said they just took off work just to be a part of what we were doing, for the kids to see our faith and know that we’re supporting them and we’re here with them.”
On Saturday, the organizers are hosting the finale with a Peace Day from 11 a.m to 5 p.m.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
