WASHINGTON — A bouncy castle, face painting, live music, and the distribution of school supplies: all to mark the end of the "GOOD camp," a summer camp hosted by the GOOD organization which lasted eight weeks and welcomed about 200 kids from the underprivileged neighborhoods of DC such as Greenleaf and James Creek.
"The camp was fun because we went on field trips, and we did fun stuff, we played games, we had fun and what I most like about it is that we went to the pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays," said 8-year old Azariah Anderson.
"We went on multiple field trips, college visits. Really just giving kids permission to dream and just exposing them to different things and trying to giving them a fun summer for free," said GOOD co-founder Danny Wright.
The organization's co-founders say this is all about giving back to the communities that gave them so much.
"It’s one of the reasons why I got involved and wanted to be a part of what GOOD had going on. Because I remember being a kid and not having the opportunities that we’re trying to provide for the kids now. It would have been extremely instrumental in my development because it – it would have broadened my horizons a little bit," said co-founder Ibrahim Lyles.
"As we look around D.C.—the gentrification that’s happening, the economic development that’s happening. We want to ensure that the residents who have been here, the residents who have been impoverished have a pathway to benefit from that economic development that’s happening in the city," said co-founder Troy Bullock.
The ultimate goal, the co-founders say, is to get kids off the streets, and have families live fulfilling lives free from poverty and violence.
"The idle time sometimes you know that’s when the worst things happen. So we try to provide them with the exposure during that idle time to really build them and prepare them for the school year," said Bullock.
The kids attended the camp say their only regret is that the camp is over, and it'll soon be back to school.
"I feel sad because I still want to go to good camp," said Anderson.
