Jamison's camp serves up fun for kids of wounded, fallen soldiers

Joe Mazur Image
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Jamison All-Star Camp
Antawn Jamison's partnership with Camp Corral creates fun, educational opportunities for children of wounded or fallen soldiers.

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Camp Corral is an organization devoted to providing fun, free activities for the children of disabled, wounded or fallen soldiers. North Carolina is one of 17 states in which the group works.

In the Triangle - it has found a partner in former UNC superstar Antawn Jamison.

No longer making buckets, Jamison is now focused on making smiles. The ex-Tar Heel is using his basketball camp to do so.

In conjunction with Camp Corral - 40 youngsters of wounded or fallen soldiers such as the Faulkner sisters get to learn new skills, make new friends and meet a legend.

"To see the shyness of certain kids on their first day, and by the time the camp is over with, for them to let me know that they had a great time high-fiving me and things of that nature. I mean, it's my duty to give back," Jamison said.

Airman First Class Charles Faulkner who died in 2014, loved UNC hoops. From an early age, Alexa who's now 14 - and 10-year old Lauren were exposed.

"I remember my dad always watching games here, and to actually be where my dad always wanted to is kind of special to me," Lauren said.

Not everyone in the family picked the light-blue path.

"When Duke and Carolina would play against each other, we'd all gather in the living room and half of the family would root for Duke and half the family would root for Carolina," Lauren explained.

As for attending Jamison's camp, Alexa said she knows how her dad would have reacted.

"He would be like, oh, my gosh, you met him? You met him!"

For Jamison, the two days of camp spark memories of his playing days. But that's not why it's a summer highlight.

"I enjoy it, Camp Corral is a great organization," Jamison said, "and we have this partnership, and we can continue to go with that going forward as well."

It's a safe bet that many campers, including Alexa and Lauren, agree.