Usher becomes camp counselor

R&B star Usher Raymond has a new job, as a camp counselor. Well sorta. Usher is the chairman and founder of a nonprofit organization called Camp New Look that provides an annual summer program for at-risk kids.

New Look's two-week residential program brings together 150 young people ages 12-17 from around the country. This year's camp took place July 14-27 at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta. The free program includes a "business focus" on acting, dance, music and sports, and the camp looks for applicants with a family income below the poverty line, or who live in a single-parent household, or have limited access to other opportunities.

"I reached a point where writing a check for charitable causes wasn't enough," the 29-year-old star said on the organization's web site. So he created the program "to use a young person's interest in the sports and entertainment field as a springboard to inspire them to dig deep, explore their interest and learn about career paths available in multi-billion dollar industries," according to the site.

Usher has experience in the business side of both the sports field and the entertainment world. He's a part owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers National Basketball Association franchise and has his own record label, US Records. He said the mission of Camp New Look is "to provide young people with a new look on life through education and real-world experience."

See a video of Usher talking about the program below.