History of The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund

HOW IT ALL BEGAN ONE HOT SUMMER …

In 1901 Toronto was hit by one of the worst heat waves on record. With thermometers topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the wealthy and middle class shaded themselves on verandas. But the poor, living in squalor and sleeping in stuffy bedrooms that reeked of foul street air, had no reprieve. Sadly, many died from the brutal heat that summer. On just one July day, 28 people died of heat-related symptoms, including 12 babies.

One steamy June day that year, Joseph Atkinson, publisher of The Daily Star, set out on a stroll through sizzling neighbourhoods in the city. As he walked through the east end, he could not believe the sad view of youngsters playing in the scorching sun outside the wretched shacks they called home, simply trying to take their minds off the heat.

Atkinson knew of childhood poverty first-hand. When he was an infant, his father was killed in a tragic accident, leaving his widowed mother alone to raise eight small children.

As an adult, with a more prosperous life as publisher of The Daily Star, Atkinson felt compelled to help relieve the agony facing many children of Toronto’s poor and downtrodden.

From such humble beginnings, The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund was born. Atkinson began publishing stories in the newspaper to raise awareness about the squalor and need for the community to help the poor. These stories helped raise money to allow underprivileged and special needs children to enjoy a reprieve from the city’s sweltering heat. He used his power and influence to briefly remove poor and ill children from their day-to-day despair to experience a new environment of clean air, clean water, healthy food and fun in the countryside.

That first year, $1025.50 was raised to send 26 children to a Whitby farm. Other children enjoyed picnics, boat cruises on Lake Ontario and free rides around Toronto on the old Belt Line railway. As the years progressed, the Fund grew and children were sent to day camps throughout the city or enjoyed time away in the northern areas now considered cottage country.

More than one century later, The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund continues Atkinson’s mission to enable children to escape the sweltering summer heat and the harsh realities of life – even for a week. These camp experiences help develop and benefit a child’s emotional, mental and physical well-being. But even more, it is a wonderful chance for all children, regardless of privilege or need, to simply be children, to laugh, to play, to learn and to build lifelong friendships and memories.

Help us build on this century-old tradition and send thousands of children to camp. Donate now.

To learn more about Joseph Atkinson, click here.