Camp — down the street, out the back door
Thousands of city kids want the opportunity to experience summer
Never went to camp as a kid. Well, not overnight camp. Not days and days away from the family, learning how to waterski, staying in a cabin with six, seven, eight other kids my age. Being out underneath the stars. Learning how to tie knots. Going on a canoe trip.
The camp that I went to was up the street on Hamilton Mountain. The local YMCA. And it was everything to me.
You have to understand, in those days, my world was about 10 blocks in diameter. Downtown Hamilton, perhaps a visit to ride the elevators at the old Right House, was a major outing. We had a park two minutes away, and then the “Y” up the road. It had a pool and tennis courts, and day camps. So while it wasn’t Haliburton or the Kawarthas, it still had the feeling of camp, with helpful counsellors, singsongs, loads of activities and kids you’d never met before. It was my break from the house, and five siblings and our immediate neighbourhood, a chance to spread my wings a little bit. It was something of an oasis in the middle of a hot summer.
This summer, decades later, life is different, living in the west end of Toronto with my wife and three of our four kids. But in a different way, our options have changed, as they have for hundreds of thousands of others in the GTA. Our summer getaway to our cottage in Prince Edward Island hasn’t been available to us, at least unless we’re ready to quarantine for two weeks. Sorry, but our two-bedroom cabin won’t work for that.
Instead, our backyard, about 12 metres by 15 metres, has become this summer’s oasis in the middle of this pandemic. It has become our backyard camp. Everything happens there.
My daughter shoots pucks, hoping she’ll have a midget hockey season in the fall, and spends hours reading books. My other daughter does yoga. My wife does exercise classes. We all take shifts with our new Weimaraner puppy, Lincoln, as he learns the ropes from our older golden retriever, Maximus.
We’ve had friends over, with sensible social distancing. We’ve watched rainstorms.
On Father’s Day, our oldest daughter joined us and the six of us sat in the backyard for two hours, just talking. If we’d had a campfire, we surely would have lit it.
It’s all worked particularly well because we replaced the natural grass with artificial grass two summers ago, allowing the yard to be used for all these different activities without turning into a dust bowl. Believe me, it’s perfect for two dogs, particularly two dogs that love to chew and wrestle.
So if the Y was my escape from the monotony of a hot Hamilton summer a half-century ago, these days our yard is our escape from having to deal with the way in which so many of the GTA’s outdoor areas have been shuttered or restricted. For weeks, like many others, we wondered if it was OK to leave the house at all, or if it was socially responsible to do so. Many times, I’ve remarked to my wife, “What would we do without this yard?” Our backyard camp. So when I turned my mind to the 120th year of the Fresh Air Fund, it’s pretty easy to think of all those kids over all those decades who have benefited from the fund, and been given the gift of a special oasis for part of their summer.
This summer, there’s thousands of kids who may or may not get the opportunity for camp depending on how Toronto progresses in this battle against the coronavirus. But they may, if things go well. So we hope.
Many kids don’t have that backyard camp to enjoy, let along something bigger and more expansive in one of Ontario’s cottage escapes. So these camps, provided by the Fresh Air Fund, are crucial. Our fundraisin g goal this year is $650,000, and we can do a lot with those funds to help underprivileged children have a summer camp experience. The Fresh Air Fund has more than 100 accredited camps, some of them residential camps, some day camps, and they contain the potential for summer dreams and experiences that can change lives.
In the event all camps are cancelled this summer, any funds collected will be applied to camps next year when the need will be even greater.
We all know times are tough, and it’s not easy to give when the immediate future seems so unclear. But maybe there’s a Leaf game or a Raptor game you didn’t get to go to because the season was put on pause, or maybe you were planning to go to the RBC Canadian Open or the Rogers Cup. And maybe you’d consider applying those dollars to help some kids go to camp.
Those of us who cover sports for a living miss the games, the excitement, the stories. But there are a lot of kids who aren’t getting to play their summer baseball, lacrosse or soccer, and a chance to go to camp would sure relieve some of that disappointment.
So give if you can. The memories last. Especially if your world is only 10 blocks in diameter.
How to donate: With your gift, the Fresh Air Fund can help send disadvantaged and special needs children to camp. When things get back to normal, these children will get to take part in a camp experience they will cherish for a lifetime. Our target is $650,000.
By cheque:
Mail to The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6 By credit card:
Visa, MasterCard or AMEX. Call 416-869-4847.
Online: For instant donations, use our secure form at thestar.com/freshairfund
The Star does not authorize anyone to solicit on its behalf. Tax receipts will be issued.