Barton County Upward Bound students spent months working on a Christmas gift to a child in foster care attend summer camp. They recently presented a $400 donation to Royal Family Kids Camp, said Hope Randolph, BCUB director with the Barton Community College TRIO program.
BCUC is a college-prep program that serves Great Bend, Ellinwood and Hoisington high schools. The program is federally funded and BCC is the host institution for the program, which is designed for first-generation college and/or low-income students.
“The program works with the students throughout their high school career helping prepare them for their transition into college,” Randolph said. “As part of the program, the students participate in monthly community service activities in order to give back for the services they receive through the program.”
For December, BCUB decided to change one foster child’s life by helping send him or her to Royal Family Kids Camp. RFKC Inc. is a network of camps, children’s clubs and child mentoring for abused, abandoned and neglected children in the foster care system. Locally it is sponsored by the First Assembly of God church in Great Bend.
BCUB students collected change for four months with the goal of raising $500 which is the cost for one child to go to camp, Randolph said.
“We didn’t get the full $500 but BCUB is presenting Royal Family Kids Camp with $400,” she said. “The BCUB students are so excited to be able to help make a difference in a foster child’s life by getting them to this amazing camp.”