by Michael
(London, UK)
Domestic cats need us and there are many who need our help right now. Sometimes, though, we need help too and so for a moment, I would like to turn my attention to the children of New York City who are between six to 18 years of age. These are the children that are helped by the Fresh Air Fund.
Most Fresh Air children come from low-income communities and families that don’t have the funding to send their children on summer vacations. They live in towering apartment buildings lacking outdoor play spaces. There may be concrete playgrounds but these can’t replace, “the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes”. This is where the Fresh Air Fund can help. But it needs the help of others.
The Fresh Air Fund is in need of host families for this summer (2010). Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and homes to children from the city to give a fresh air experience that these disadvantaged children never forget.
I am not able to help myself because I live in London, England – wrong country and not in the country so not much fresh air!
But I would like to help publicise the Fresh Air Fund, which is an independent, not-for-profit agency. It has “provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877.”
If American visitors to this site can help, please visit their website to make contact with them and read and see more:
Fresh Air Fund — link broken March 2013 – sorry
Update March 23rd 2011: The Fresh Air Fund is in need of loving host families. They are looking for families in the following areas to host THIS summer – 2011:
Please go to this page (link broken Dec 2012) to inquire about hosting for 2011.
Here are a couple of videos about their work:
