Perry to send jilted campers on Disney trip

"Madea" got mad - and now the kids are going to Disney World.

Tyler Perry, the prolific writer and star of "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," "Madea's Family Reunion" and other movies and TV shows, is going to pay for dozens of Creative Steps campers to visit the famed Orlando, Fla., theme park next month.

In a statement on his Web site, Perry said that he "went from being mad to furious" when he watched a news report about the 65 Creative Steps campers who were disinvited from a Huntingdon Valley swim club on June 29.

The incident became a national controversy when a Valley Club official said that he was worried about changing the "complexion" of the swim club. Most of the campers are black or Latino.

Club officials later claimed that the pool was too small for all the kids from the day camp.

Perry said that he's paying for the kids to visit Disney World from Aug. 1 to Aug. 3. He's also paying for the campers' airfare and hotel accommodations.

"I want them to know that for every act of evil that a few people will throw at you, there are millions more who will do something kind for them," he said.

Creative Steps director Alethea Wright said that her campers were "ecstatic and flabbergasted" over Perry's kind act.

"Some of these kids have never been on a plane before," she said. "This is such an inspiration." *