FBI honors founder of Camp Good Days

Gary Mervis, chairman and founder of Camp Good Days and Special Times, is the recipient of the 2013 FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award.

Mervis was honored Tuesday by Brian P. Boetig, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Buffalo field office. The award is an honor bestowed by the FBI on individuals who make extraordinary contributions to their communities across the United States. Mervis has been selected for his role as chairman of the Project Exile Advisory Board.

“We’re thrilled to present Gary with the DCLA,” Boetig said in a release. “Gary exemplifies exactly what this award is all about. He has the leadership qualities that have made the community a safer place, in addition to impacting families battling cancer.”

Project Exile was implemented in the Rochester community Sept. 28, 1998, making Rochester the second city in the United States to operate a program like Project Exile, which addresses gun violence.

Project Exile, according to the most recent statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms and the Rochester Police Department, has helped remove more than 15,000 illegal guns from the streets of the Rochester community and reduced the homicide rate.

“It’s a great honor and is truly a reflection of the work of the staff and volunteers at Camp Good Days that have worked so tirelessly to make Camp Good Days the special place it is today,” Mervis said. “It’s also proof of what a great community that Rochester is.”

Project Exile was started in Rochester when Mervis was asked to attend a meeting in a federal judge’s chambers where he met Denise O’Donnell, then acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Tyler.

At the time, according to the release, Rochester had the highest per capita homicide rate of any city in the state and was searching for a means to address crime and violence.

The Director’s Community Leadership Award was created in 1990 to honor individuals and organizations for their efforts in combating crime, terrorism, drugs and violence in America. Each of the 56 field offices of the FBI nominates an outstanding community leader to receive the award.

For more information or to get involved, contact PAVE coordinator James McCauley Jr. at (585) 624-5555 or [email protected] or check out www.campgooddays.org.