Excerpts taken from Leslie Ferenc's recent article. The Star’s legendary publisher, Joseph E. Atkinson, saw the benefits of that more than 100 years ago when he established the Fresh Air Fund to give inner-city kids a break. “Stronger boys and girls mean stronger citizens,” Atkinson wrote in a 1901 editorial. He was right.
The exodus to cottage country is in full swing this August long weekend, but not everyone marks it with a beer in hand, sprawled out on a lawn chair at some well-stocked family retreat. Thanks to the remarkable generosity of Star readers, those enjoying clean air and campfires this summer also include thousands of disadvantaged children who otherwise would have been stuck in the stifling city. Surely they deserve a break more than anyone.
