Ron Burton Camp helps boys grow

Over the past twenty-four years the Ron Burton Training Village has served over 2000 young men in their spiritual, physical and educational growth. More than 120 boys ages 11 to 17, most from tough neighborhoods and foster homes in and around Boston attend the camp for five straight weeks during the summer and campers stay in the program for six years.

The Boston Globe interviewed several staff members and camp regulars in a fantastic article from Emma Brown.  Below are several quotes from her interview.

“We’re bringing them out to a setting that’s completely foreign to their living situation,” says soft-spoken Ron Burton Jr., 44, one of five siblings who have run the Training Village since their father died in 2003 at age 67. “We’re exposing them to a whole ‘nother culture.”

“My father’s philosophy was, if you see beautiful things, you think beautiful thoughts,” says Ron Jr., a director of community relations for the Red Sox who, along with his younger brother Paul, a 35-year-old reporter for WBZ-TV (Channel 4), takes five weeks’ vacation each year to volunteer here. They run the camp on in-kind donations and a budget of $350,000, most of which comes from sponsors at an annual fund-raising dinner at Gillette Stadium.

“They’re hungry for goodness,” Ron Jr. says. “That’s the kid we want - seen all the junk, and is hungry for something different.”

Read the entire article in the Boston Globe here.

The camp stresses diversity with a roster of 50% minority and 50% non-minority campers. Though the young men come from very diverse backgrounds, the majority of the youth who attend the training village are kids who come from economically disadvantaged and often troubled and at-risk situations. The environments they are reared in generally lead to adverse behavior and low self-esteem. These young men have excessive stress in their homes, neighborhoods and social lives and are looking for direction. These campers genuinely desire to get better however the majority of the surrounding forces they are confronted with on a daily basis keep them teetering on that fence, and with the wrong influences they could easily be edged in a very unfavorable direction. The Ron Burton Training Village curriculum directs the focus of these individuals toward a positive and productive target whose bull’s-eye is; a love for God and ones fellow human beings, physical adeptness and academic excellence. The program accomplishes this through the medium of sport.

Though the kids come from different backgrounds, most of the campers come on scholarship. No child is turned away due to their financial situation. Each camper is given all of their clothes, meals and accommodations for the five weeks. Everyone dresses the same so that no one feels any different (better or worse) than anyone else. They are given full sweat suits, running sneakers, shorts, t-shirts, socks; in fact the only articles kids come to camp with is a sleeping bag, a few personal items, and the clothes on their backs.

There are four core values of the camp: Peace, Patience, Love and Humility. The camp’s philosophy is to inspire the consideration of others before your self and motivate an understanding that faith and morals need to be the foundation of the mentality through which they approach life.

The entire program is based on love and understanding. The staff, counselors and campers alike are only allowed to speak positive and uplifting words. Teasing, putting down or any words that might hurt or otherwise demean someone’s spirit are not allowed. The kids are taught never to swear or use harsh language. Through athletics the program inspires the campers never to drink, smoke or take any kind of drugs. The camp stresses the importance of respecting their colleagues, their elders and a special emphasis is placed on loving and respecting their parents.

Sources: Emma Brown/Boston Globe, Wikipedia, Ron Burton Training Village website