Coming back to East Chicago is a wake-up call for Kawann Short.

His hometown is like family. He’ll love it forever — unconditionally.

And he loves to swoop in as an NFL role model for a legion of young kids who need to look up to someone.

Ironically, East Chicago was always a place he wanted leave.

The Carolina Panthers defensive tackle, who hosted his fourth annual football camp Saturday at East Chicago Central, said that’s why the trip home always makes him reflect.

“I don’t come back as much as I used to,” he said. “It’s humbling coming home, knowing where I came from and what I’ve done. The goal was always to do well and get away.

“When I get back here, it just knocks me off my high horse. I sniff the air and feel blessed about the situation I was in and the situation I’m in now.”

Short’s free camp drew 350 kids. Every year, it gets bigger. In 2018, the camp had 300 kids.

There was football instruction, but it’s much more than the game. It’s Short’s chance to make a personal impact on the campers and inspire them.

The good-natured Short is comfortable laughing and making jokes.

Ezra Baker, 12, who lives in East Chicago, came to the camp for the first time. He plans to play football next year.

Baker loved Short. He said Short made him laugh when he kidded he won his own raffle for a gift basket.

“He was funny,” Baker said. “He was a great guy.”

Keith Wofford, who said he would be a starting running back on the junior varsity in the fall at Merrillville, also attended camp for the first time.

Wofford wants to return next year.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I learned a lot of fundamentals. He’s a great dude. He just loved on us.”

The camp is sponsored by Short’s charity. He said it’s something he didn’t have as a kid. He felt the pull to make it happen because of what he missed when he was growing up.

“When I was young, we didn’t have something like this,” he said. “We could do little things, but not for a weekend. It’s good for the kids.

“I just want them to have fun. All the sleepless nights planning this with the charity makes it all worth it.”

A football and basketball star at East Chicago Central, Short was a starter on the school’s 2007 team that won the state title in basketball.

Short’s buddy, E’Twaun Moore of the New Orleans Pelicans, had his basketball camp the weekend before Short’s camp. Moore and Short were basketball teammates at East Chicago Central.

The goal for both camps is to give the kids a safe place for the day.

“I want them to have a sense of hope,” he said. “I want to give them something to do, especially the kids who could be outside doing God knows what.”

Short said the charity will last a long time if he can make it happen.

“When I pass, I want this to live on,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about — giving back.”