The Dunn Police Athletic League, or PAL, was the recipient of an Operation Round Up grant to help with programming. The after school programming, as well as the sports programs for students in the local community, changed when COVID-19 hit, with hands-on gatherings being predominately suspended with a bigger move to community service.

Let’s start at the beginning.

“The Police Athletic League began in New York,” said Rodney Rowland, director. “Kids were found throwing rocks at store windows, and that needed to stop.”

That was around 1914, and the program that got students off the streets and more involved in sports, and beyond, was the Police Athletic League.

Closer to home

“Dunn PAL began in 1995, and is the second oldest unit in the state,” said Rowland. “We got some officers to participate and, with grant funding, started a couple sports programs to fill after-school time.”

Managed by a board of community members, the program offered three softball teams, a flag football team and basketball.

When the program began, there wasn’t a lot of centrally located space available for activities, and much of it ws donated. However it wasn’t always avaiable for use when ti was needed, but that has since changed. The organization has committed offices and facilities for use.

The program intent is to help students who are in tough home situations, or just not receiving the necessary care or support.

PAL began partnering with Boys Town in Nebraska, which helps students who are suffering from abuse, addiction, abandonment or violence, so that they can reach their potential. There have been a few students from the local area to attend.

Although sports is a step to get students involved, education is the focal point to help students succeed.

“We adapt and tailor programs each year,” he said. “We provide educational assistance after school four days a week, year-round.”

“We adapt and tailor programs each year,” he said. “We provide educational assistance after school four days a week, year-round.”

That programming includes character building, mentoring, SAT prep, college/career readiness, and homework assistance. Students also benefit from many different areas of enrichment including arts, video, radio, robotics, circuitry, 3D printing, music and more.

However, to provide this programming requires money, thus the Operation Round Up grant. Grant funding was used to purchase 20 Chromebooks, three laptops and software for those devices to help with SAT prep and more.

And those devices were put into use upon reception, however, their use became a little different in recent months.

“We had to change gears and be creative during this time. In March, we moved from tutoring here on campus to delivering meals to students after realizing a great number of kids heavily rely of school meals during the school year,” said Rowland. “We started with 50 meals the first week being out in March to 280 meals delivered each day Monday through Friday.”

The organization was contacted by the NC Food Bank about opening a drive-thru food pick-up site, that is open Monday through Thursday from 4-5 p.m.

“We went from 40 meals to 70 meals,” he said. “Which includes 30 meals at our gym on the east side of town.”

The gym is located at 610 East Johnson Street, while the main office is located at 610 Fairground Road.

Meanwile, mentoring and youth leadership program students are helping to deliver and operate the drive-thru food pick-ups. Some have come to help in the greenhouse, which means about 20 students are involved in this type of programming at its current stage.

“We are also open Monday-Thursday for online tutoring with our gym site available for internet and Chromebook access,” said Rowland. “We have around six students in the gym and another 10 students online.”

Summer camp programming kicked off June 1, with about 70 registered students.

To learn more about the programming, visit dunnpal.org, or learn about fundraising efforts on their Facebook page.