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Community Corner

Tide of Support Lifts Surf Camps for At-Risk Youth

An increase in sponsorship this summer has enabled the Institute for the Study and Practice of Non Violence in Providence to expand its Second Beach surf camps to serve more youth year-round.

This weekend the , a non-profit organization that offers programs to youth as an alternative to the violence that prevails in their neighborhoods, held a surf camp at in Middletown.

Shayla Belanger, a supervisor for the institute's Reentry Department, established the surf camp back in 2009. Belanger has worked with the highest risk kids who have gone away for violent crimes and are now back out on probation.

"The vision of surf camp is to introduce youth to a new experience and to alternative lifestyle choices," Belanger said. "Last year the surf camp was held only once and now this year, the sponsorship has grown and so has the camp."

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The institute has held nine surf camps this summer, with 8 held at Second Beach.

"Weekly camps reach that many more kids," Belanger said. "We've introduced 41 inner city at-risk youth from Providence this summer, and it's been wonderful to watch these kids running in the waves with big smiles on their faces."

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Ana Barend, owner of the in Little Compton, was asked by Belanger to assist with the camp this summer.

The Living Water Surf Company also donated a JC Hawaii Board valued at $600.

"Surf is such a good outlet for the kids. When you give of yourself you are actually helping yourself as well," Barend said.

Eastern Surfing Association District Director Peter Panagiotis has sponsored this event since the beginning. His company has donated boards and wet suits, making it possible for the surf camps to continue through the winter months.

Panagiotis, originally from South Providence, immediately saw the need to reach out and help those who otherwise would never have the opportunity to experience surfing.

Belanger continued, "The children who are living extreme lifestyles have high-risk behaviors and are exposed to this 24 hours a day. They have easy access to guns and act and live like soldiers. But Teny Gross, chief executive director of the Institute, Barend, Panagiotis and all of the sponsors for this program are making a difference and we are ever so grateful for their tireless work."

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