news-record.com

Friday nights make for a packed house at the Windsor Recreation Center.

Hit the gymnasium, and you'll see the next LeBron James tearing up the court in a game of pickup basketball.

Onstage, you'll find the next aspiring disc jockey taking a turn picking out a song to keep the gym hopping.

In other rooms, friends are laughing as they play video games or learn how to play a game of checkers for the first time. There's free food, a lot of fun and smiles at every turn.

For these kids, there's no other place they would rather be.

They're part of the Guilford Police Athletic League's Community Nights Out - a new program started this year that aims to give kids "something to do, somewhere to go and someone to be."

It's a positive alternative to the many bad things kids could become involved with on a Friday night. The program is sponsored by the local faith community through a partnership with the Greensboro Police Department.

"We've been able to build relationships by calling kids by name and developing a level of respect," said the Rev. Otto Harris , chairman of the G-PAL board of directors.

"The youth are taking ownership of what we are doing,'' Harris said. "We want to give them a positive influence and a sense of value in community and service."

That includes group sessions with mentors to discuss issues at school, at home and within their peer groups.

It's a way to deter the bad influences that teens might encounter and direct them toward a brighter future.

"These kids need love," volunteer Bernadette Doltie said. "It's important for these kids to know that someone cares about them other than their family.

"Plus, they like getting fed," she said.

Since January, the program has brought between 75 and 300 kids to the recreation center each Friday night - a number so high that group organizers plan to open a second G-PAL location at the Peeler Center on Sykes Avenue.

Eventually, the organization aims to be in every recreation center across the city spreading the program's positive influence.

"Those kids are not playing in the streets and not on the corners," Assistant Police Chief Ron Rogers said.

"(The kids) are at a point now were they are looking forward to Friday nights and have somewhere to go where someone really cares about them."

Corey Robinson, 13, of Hairston Middle School said the program has given him a chance to interact with kids he might not otherwise get to know.

"It gives us a chance to work with other people," Corey said. "I'm learning not to do bad things, stay out of trouble and work toward a good education and a good job."

In addition to G-PAL, Greensboro has similar opportunities for youth activities on Friday nights, including the Midnight Basketball League.

The program offers basketball and gang-prevention programs for people ages 10 to 17.

Midnight basketball runs from February to August. A location for next year's league has yet to be announced.