Fresh Air Fund

Yesterday I was contacted again by Sara from Fresh Air Fund. She had sent me an email a week or two back.. and honestly I kinda dismissed it because I just assumed it was spam. But when I received the 2^nd email, I figured I should check it out. So I did and I want to share it with you. It seems like a really awesome program! 

Straight from the website:

About:

THE FRESH AIR FUND, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Nearly 10,000 New York City children enjoy free Fresh Air Fund programs annually. In 2010, close to 5,000 children visited volunteer host families in suburbs and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada. 3,000 children also attended five Fresh Air camps on a 2,300-acre site in Fishkill, New York. The Fund’s year-round camping program serves an additional 2,000 young people each year.

Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open, outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes. 

Fresh Air children are registered by more than 90 participating social service and community organizations located in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the five boroughs of New York City. These community-based agencies are in close contact with children in need of summer experiences in rural and suburban areas. Each agency is responsible for registering children for the program.


What do Fresh Air children enjoy?

·                                 Playing in the backyard

·                                 Laughing in the sunshine

·                                 Catching fireflies

·                                 Riding bicycles

·                                 Learning to swim

·                                 Running barefoot through the grass

·                                 Gazing at the stars on moonlit nights

·                                 Building sandcastles

·                                 Making new friends

·                                 Simple pleasures of life away from the inner-city

Please take a moment and check out the website, sign up, or donate. J

Fresh Air Fund

Fresh Air

Blessings N Love

Overthinking Mama