I have written in the past about the Fresh Air Fund – the charity which gives kids from inner-city New York the opportunity to experience a summer camp in a small community far away from the pressures that cities can place on even the youngest of its inhabitants. Well, it is coming close to summer holiday time in the US, and the Fund are still looking for host families. It is a chance to open your door and your heart to boys and girls, six to 12 years old, who reside in low-income communities in New York City.
The Fund have a long history of helping to change kids lives:
In 1877, the Reverend Willard Parsons, minister of a small rural parish in Sherman, Pennsylvania, asked members of his congregation to provide country vacations as volunteer host families for children from New York City tenements. This was the beginning of The Fresh Air Fund tradition. By 1884, Reverend Parsons was writing about The Fund for New York’s Herald Tribune, and the number of children served grew. In 2008, close to 10,000 New York City children experienced the joys of summertime in Friendly Towns and at five Fund camps in upstate New York.
Currently, thanks to some generous sponsors, every dollar that is donated to the Fresh Air Fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar. So if you don’t have the space to host a child, perhaps you could double the benefit of a small donation. This is only available until June 30.
Is this type of thing in Australia? I live in the Blue Mountains, a rural area rich in Australian culture with experiences that “city” kids may never come across.