The Second Mile may be closing its doors permanently in the coming months, but the 35-year-old charity Jerry Sandusky created to help at-risk children will continue to run programs through the summer.
The organization announced in May that it would be shutting down and transferring its assets and programs to the Christian organization Arrow Child & Family Ministries.
Attorneys for The Second Mile, who submitted a petition in court in May with the details of the transfer of programs, are still awaiting approval for the transfer.
Second Mile Interim CEO David Woodle said a hearing has not yet been set, and he expects that it could be months before one is scheduled.
As officials wait for a court to approve a formal transfer to Arrow Child & Family Ministries, The Second Mile is set to run what may be it’s last series of youth programs this summer.
Woodle said the program, called The Second Mile Challenge program, is aimed at self-improvement and helping children build their self-confidence and self-esteem.
The camp occurs at two different sites; some children go to Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., while others participate in the program at Paradise Farm Camps in Downington, Pa.
He said that approximately 200 kids are currently enrolled in the program, a number that he says is lower than in previous years.
Woodle said the number of kids per week at the camp is relatively the same, but the overall number of kids signed up for the program has decreased.
“We just don’t have as much money as we used to,” he said, citing financial difficulties that The Second Mile has been plagued with since November.
But despite financial troubles and Sandusky, the charity’s founder, being found guilty of 45 counts of child sex abuse, programs will continue at The Second Mile until the transfer is approved.
“In spite of everything, you see the need for support is still there and that participants want to participate,” Woodle said.
