New York City has skyscrapers and sidewalks and pavement –– but it also has parks, shorelines, and hiking trails, and the Fresh Air Fund wants people to know that it offers young New Yorkers the chance to swim, hike, camp, and explore city green spaces –– free of charge.
“We don’t want kids to think the only way to experience the outdoors is to get on a bus and travel two hours north, and come to one of our camps,” said Lisa Gitelson, CEO of the Fresh Air Fund. “We still want kids to do that, but during the school year, we’re exposing kids to the outdoors of New York City.
The nonprofit hosts free outdoor activities in summer and leadership programs throughout the school year for low-income kids. Gitelson noted that many city children don’t get regular chances to enjoy outdoor locations.
“We know that there is inequitable access presently, and to address this, we run several programs… and all of these incorporate the outdoors.”
But there’s a history behind it all. The Fund began in 1877 during a tuberculosis outbreak, when a church in Pennsylvania arranged for city children to stay on farms because fresh air was believed to improve their health.
“So, they started a program where kids from the city were sent to visit farms in rural Pennsylvania with the idea that getting fresh air would be healthy for them,” Gitelson said.
That original idea has expanded to a program that now operates six sleepaway camps: five at the more than 2,000-acre Sharpe Reservation in Fishkill, NY, and Camp Junior in Harriman State Park. Fresh Air Fund campers swim, hike, make art, visit a farm, and take overnight trips. Gitelson said every camper receives daily swim lessons and free-swim time.
According to the organization’s 2024 report, “The Fresh Air Fund: A Force of Nature,” research shows that spending time in nature helps improve cognitive skills, social and emotional well-being, and mental health. It warns that children with limited access to the outdoors may face disadvantages.
“There’s a significant amount of information out there about depression, anxiety, mental health, if you don’t have regular access and exposure to the outdoors,” Gitelson said.
The Fresh Air Fund’s summer camp is open to kids ages 8 to 15 who live and go to school in the five boroughs and who qualify by income. 16- and 17-year-olds can apply to take part in the Fund’s leadership-oriented counselor-in-training program. Gitelson said eligibility is easiest to understand this way: “If your family receives food assistance, you’re eligible for our programs.”
Gitelson said the Fresh Air Fund doesn’t have long-term data results, but general surveys of young people and parents before and after they attended one of their camps found that kids noticed they had a better appreciation for nature, improved leadership skills, a greater willingness to try new things, and an increased ability to make friends and build community.
School-year registration for the Fresh Air Fund is now open online at freshair.org, and summer registration begins Dec. 1.
