NORMAL - Ten-year-old Alanna Buesking is afraid of heights but climbed to the top of a 65-foot wall at Upper Limits Rock Climbing Gym.

"I was afraid so I tried not to look down," said Buesking, Carlock.

It helped that she had a lot of support from her best friend, McKenzie Todd of Normal, and several newfound friends, including Kaydee Parker of Normal.

Buesking, Todd and Parker are among 52 kids in the Normal Police Department Youth Program this summer. The group will participate in a community service day today, then will have graduation ceremonies and a swimming pool party tonight.

"It's a big community effort," said police department community resources officer Brian Williams. "Everybody comes together. It's wonderful."

Five Twin City restaurants - Avanti's, Subway, Micheleo's Pizza, LaGondola and Jimmy John's - donate lunches for the weeklong program. The police department also gets discounts at the places they take the kids throughout the week including Upper Limits, the Pepsi Ice Center and Miller Park Zoo, all in Bloomington, and Illinois State University Planetarium.

Unit 5 donates vans to take kids to the events; the police department budgets $5,000; and each participant pays $10. Williams said the program is open to kids ages 9 through 13. Typically, between 75 and 100 kids apply each year.

Buesking said her mom enrolled her so she could meet new people. "It's the funnest camp I've ever gone to," she said. "We get to do all kinds of activities."

This is Parker's fourth year at the program. "I enjoy it," she said. "It's lots of fun."

Williams said officers volunteer to help with the program, but get paid regular pay.

This was the first year Officer Melanie Crays has volunteered. "I like kids and thought it was a great program to get involved in," she said. "It's amazing. It's great to see them interact and start to achieve things they don't normally do."