WE FOLLOWED YOUR MONEY
And it’s all good. A Star investigative reporter checks in to ensure our summer charity keeps its word
Follow the money!
Over the years, when I have been asked to look into something, I have learned to do this. Where does the money come from? Where does it go?
When the Star asked me to do the kickoff column for this year’s Fresh Air Fund, that’s what I did. I pulled the charity’s financial statements and asked questions around the Toronto Star, where I have worked for 37 years.
Two things attract me as a donor to the Fresh Air Fund: first, the company covers all the expenses of administering the charity, so if you donate $20, $20 goes to what I call the “good works” of the charity. If you give $100, $100 goes to good works.
As someone who has investigated many charities over the years, I can tell you that is rare with corporate-sponsored charities.
Second, I like that you can actually see the good works the charity does; I prefer charities where the impact is tangible.
The financials I reviewed reveal that the Star provides annual support to more than 100 day and overnight camps so disadvantaged and special-needs kids who cannot afford to go to camp get the opportunity.
In the most recent non-pandemic year for which the figures have been finalized (2019), the Fresh Air Fund gave $741,000 to support campers.
A lot of donors are attracted to these same two factors … people such as Dave Bloor. “It’s such a positive experience for the kids and I like that the company eats the expenses,” Bloor said.
He grew up in Ontario Housing — the “projects” as he calls them — and, through generous donations, he and his brother were able to attend two summer camps: Kawagama and Kurio.
It was a life-changing experience for the now 57-year-old Bloor, who is both a longtime donor to the Star charities and an employee of the Star, working as an IT support centre analyst for three decades.
Bloor’s mind goes back easily to his childhood days. His parents split up in the 1960s. He moved in with his mother. They lived in two social housing communities, one at Scarlettwood Court and one at Falstaff Avenue. Those were gloomy days. He said they never went outside much.
“We used to go and buy bread, and some of the kids would try and rob you of the change. They didn’t care about the bread.”
Then came the opportunity to go to summer camp, something they could not afford without financial support. Many groups provide funding for summer camps including the Star’s charity. In his case, it was a church group that funded four magical summers for both Dave and his older brother, Kevin.
“We had this wonderful opportunity to get out of the city, build campfires, fish, learn crafts,” Bloor recalls. He and his brother forged friendships and, for the first time, looked up at the stars, far away from the lights of the city.
“You didn’t feel like you were on welfare or in the projects,” Bloor said.
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I donate because of my memory of going to camp, how important that was. DAVID BLOOR
Last year, I wrote about the importance of swimming lessons; Bloor learned at summer camp and it propelled him to join the swim team in high school.
After graduation, Bloor attended York University, earned two degrees, the second of which he did while working and, in 1987, started a job at the Star.
“I donate because of my memory of going to camp, how important that was for me,” he said. “That really stuck with me.”
Bloor married later in life. He has a stepson, and he and his wife have two granddaughters.
Here’s how the donations work, according to Stacey Carcao, executive director of the Star charities the Fresh Air Fund and the Santa Claus Fund, which provides gift boxes to needy families.
“Each spring, camps submit grant applications to the Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund,” Carcao said.
These are carefully reviewed and grant amounts are assessed and provided based on such criteria as the number of children served, the number subsidized, the amount of subsidies provided, the type of specialty services offered by the camp, the length of the camp sessions and the camp’s capacity.
Grants are issued to the respective camps at the onset of the summer camp season. More than 100 day and residential camps receive funding from our charity every summer. The money does not go to individual campers.
“In turn, these camps offer partial to full subsidies to families who cannot afford to pay the full camp fee,” Carcao said.
The Star fundraises through stories such as this and ads in the Toronto Star. Administration of the donations — the people who determine which camps get funding, how much and who disperses the funds — is covered by the Star. The Star does not use third-party fundraisers (companies hired to call you at home or knock on your door) which, in my experience, lead to high costs of charitable fundraising.
This is the 122nd year of the Fresh Air Fund. The goal this year is to raise $650,000, which will send 25,000 campers to camp.