Claire Cotten is an Alabama Bright Light making Sawyerville shine
Claire Cotten, Sawyerville’s director for Communications and Development, stands with the rising kindergarten students in the cafeteria at Greensboro Elementary School. (contributed)
In the Black Belt of Alabama, where the sun shines hot – melting the asphalt and driving field cows under the shade of hickory trees and shortleaf pines — there is a place of refuge in Hale County known as Sawyerville summer camp.
“Sawyerville is a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama,” said Claire Cotten, Sawyerville executive director for Development and Communications. “Our three goals are to serve God through outreach, to broaden the horizons of participants and staff, and to improve race relations in Alabama. We do that through five programs, including summer camp, mentoring and scholarships. All are free for children and youth in Hale County.”
Just like many other nonprofits, Sawyerville had to operate differently when the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year. Cotten is happy things are beginning to go back to normal.
“In 2020, we couldn’t have camp that summer. We did Camp-in-a-Box. We delivered arts and crafts, enrichments activities and groceries to 500 households,” Cotten said. “This year we are opening up to half capacity. We are serving kids ages 6 to 13, and we have half the number of campers and counselors. Now campers can sit next to each other and play outside without their mask.”
Claire Cotten of Sawyerville is an Alabama Bright Light from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Sawyerville is much needed in Hale County, where resources are scarce for residents. According to the 2020 Alabama Kids Count Data Book, 35.1% of children in Hale County live in poverty, and 16.0% live in extreme poverty. Food insecurity is prevalent, and children struggle with reading and math in school.
To help mitigate those tough circumstances, the folks at Sawyerville depend on the generosity of the Alabama Power Foundation and others.
“The Alabama Power Foundation is a very good friend to Sawyerville,” Cotten said. “We received a large contribution in 2016, that really helped us expand the summer camp and learning program. I think of the Alabama Power Foundation as a critical supporter. Currently, they are supporting our programs through providing our staff with professional development. We are excited about the Elevate Conference coming up. … I think of the Alabama Power Foundation as a bedrock-friend. They are helpful in a multitude of ways.”
The support from Alabama Power Foundation helps Cotten achieve the Sawyerville mission, which includes improving race relations. On a personal level, social justice has always been a main motivator for Cotten.
“Given the current conditions in the country, I can tell a difference in the staff. They are more fired up and interested in social justice. We do a training program that includes diversity and inclusion. We walk them through the history of race in the country and in Alabama,” Cotten said. “Our biggest goal is making a place where white and black and brown youth can come together, work together, sleep side by side on their air-mattresses, share meals and say their prayers.”
Social justice is one of the many reasons Cotten performs her job at Sawyerville, but the best way to explain what motivates her day in and day out is her favorite story.
“I love telling this story about a camper who was about 8 years old,” Cotten said. “She was walking down the hallway with her small group. They were singing songs and going from one activity to another. The hallway was in all kinds of mayhem with kids moving back and forth, big bulletin boards everywhere that we have decorated, and Christmas string lights hanging from the ceiling. This little girl looked around at all the people and the hubbub and the energy, then said to her counselor, ‘Is this what heaven looks like?’”
Sawyerville is a special place in Alabama’s Black Belt. For some, it’s even a glimpse of heaven.
For more information visit, www.Sawyerville.org.
