A gift of summer joy
Children have already missed out on so much because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They’ve lost months of schooling in their classrooms — something few students could even have imagined missing before this crisis. But they did. And the joy of recess with friends. They’ve missed the fun and challenge of playing sports, whether it be on school teams or in recreational and competitive leagues. They’ve lost precious time and experiences with friends and family.
And some children have had the event they look forward to all year long outright cancelled. Their collective moan was practically audible when the provincial government announced that overnight summer camps would not be allowed to open in Ontario this year.
But, thankfully, COVID-19 has not taken away the possibility of day camp.
The Star’s Fresh Air Fund has been sending children from low-income families to camp since 1901 — and will do so again this year.
While this summer is different in many ways, thanks to the generosity of Star readers the Fresh Air Fund will still be there to send disadvantaged and special-needs children to the day camps that are able to operate this summer and other day and overnight camps next year.
The joy of fresh air is one of the few things the pandemic hasn’t taken away
And for kids, camp — even the day variety — provides a generous helping of what they’ve missed most: other kids to have fun with.
Camp provides opportunities to make new friends and gain confidence along the way. Indeed, camp experiences can be life-changing — broadening perspectives, boosting self-esteem and learning new skills.
The belief that all children, regardless of their family’s income, should have the opportunity to have a memorable summer experience is a belief that the Star’s legendary founding publisher, Joseph E. Atkinson, held. It’s a view this paper, and its generous readers, have steadfastly remained committed to ever since.
Shocked by conditions in Toronto’s poorest neighbourhoods during a relentless heat wave in 1901, he urged readers to help send children with “no hope of a break in the long, hot summer” to camp.
“The child of the well-to-do man gets a trip to the seaside, or some summer resort on our lakes,” Atkinson wrote in an editorial that year. “For the city waifs there is, under ordinary circumstances, no hope of a break in the long hot summer in paved streets and dusty lanes.”
So much has changed since then and yet, sadly, too much has stayed the same.
The pandemic has affected us all, but it has not affected us all equally. Those with the least means have had the hardest time and that will be true in the recovery phase as well.
Alittle summer fun and time out of their homes is something all kids deserve, especially given the brutal year that 2020 has been so far. The Fresh Air Fund helps provide that opportunity for children who otherwise might not be able to go to camp.
This year, even more than most, those kids are relying on the generosity of Star readers to make their summer as joyous as it can be.
There’s still time to make a difference for the children. If you can afford to give, please do.
On behalf of the kids, we thank you. The Fresh Air Fund’s fundraising target is $650,000. Donations can be made online (thestar.com/freshairfund), by phone (416-8694847) or by cheque to The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6.