Fresh Air!

Just a quick blog today as life at the art of dance is unusually busy! I came across a wonderful not for profit company that I just had to blog about. The charity is called the Fresh Air Fund and it aims to give children from some of New York's toughest neighbourhoods the chance to enjoy the outdoors. 

Fresh Air children are boys and girls, six to 18 years old, who live in New York City. Children on first-time visits are six to 12 years old and stay for either one or two weeks. Youngsters who are re-invited by the same family may continue with The Fund through age 18, and many enjoy longer summertime visits, year after year. A visit to the home of a warm and loving volunteer host family can make all the difference in the world to an inner-city child. All it takes to create lifelong memories is laughing in the sunshine and making new friends.

The majority of Fresh Air children are from low-income communities. These are often families without the resources to send their children on summer vacations. Most inner-city youngsters grow up in towering apartment buildings without large, open outdoor play spaces. Concrete playgrounds cannot replace the freedom of running barefoot through the grass or riding bikes down country lanes.

Fresh Air children are registered by more than 90 participating social service and community organizations located in disadvantaged neighborhoods in the five boroughs of New York City. These community-based agencies are in close contact with children in need of summer experiences in rural and suburban areas. Each agency is responsible for registering children for the program.

Here are just some of the things that the fresh air fund aims to provide for the children it helps:

Playing in the backyard
Laughing in the sunshine
Catching fireflies
Riding bicycles
Learning to swim
Running barefoot through the grass
Gazing at the stars on moonlit nights
Building sandcastles
Making new friends
Simple pleasures of life away from the inner-city

It is sad that the list seems to be things that we would assume that all kids had access to automatically and it is a harsh reminder that sometimes the simple things in life can be the most important.  If you want to find out more about the fresh air fund then just click here. Thanks to Sara Wilson for drawing my attention to such a worthy cause and keep up the good work.

On the subject of nice groups I have to congratulate Chantelle Wright, organiser of the recent Childrens Hospice South West ladies night at Wow, on successfully raising £700 for CHSW. I am really looking forward to the next ladies night which should be bigger and better than ever.

Don't forget to check out the new Pole Dance Community interview with battle of the Pole winner Oona Kivela pictured below.

Must dash to teach now,

Stay healthy,

Sam x