Annual Camp partners fatherless teens with male role models
Steve Harvey, popular television and radio personality, best-selling author and philanthropist, kicks off his 9th annual Steve Harvey Mentoring Program for Young Men National Camp today. With more than 220 fatherless teenage boys from around the country in attendance at The Rock Ranch in The Rock, Georgia, the week-long camp is the largest youth outreach program offered by the Steve & Marjorie Harvey Foundation.
Harvey is among a group of hands-on male mentors that includes community leaders, members of the military and businessmen, including Steve Joyce CEO of Choice Hotels, the program’s first and largest sponsor. Mentorship activities, such as military-style conditioning, fishing, motivational speaking, sports, engineering games and education guidance, aim to equip the young men to overcome adolescent pressures, instill respect, teach helpful life skills and introduce problem-solving techniques. Concurrently, a Parent Program offers the teens’ mothers discussions and educational sessions on family, teenage issues, wellness activities, financial literacy, and applying to college.
“I am indebted the role models who donate their personal time to be here as well as the sponsors that have enabled us to host this camp,” said Steve Harvey. “Nine years in, we are seeing many former mentees attend and finish college when they could have taken a very different path. Instead, they have grown into fine and productive young men. This would not have been possible without enduring support from the business community.”
