A Breath of Fresh Air

It takes a special group of people to know when it’s time to go out of business.

For 64 years, The Fresh Air and Convalescent Aid Society operated a Fresh Air Farm which brought mothers and their children out of the crowded tenement areas during the hottest months of the summer for two weeks of good food, comfortable living, and planned recreation in the country.

As times changed, the need for the Fresh Air Farm in Terrace Park became obsolete. The Society’s board was a very special group of women, and their timely decision to use their resources in another way proved to be just what the fledgling GCF needed to get started. In 1963, just after the Foundation was established, The Society gave its endowment to GCF with the provision that Stepping Stones Center could operate its camp on the property for as long as the Center remained in existence.

GCF is grateful to the Fresh Air Society board for its forward-thinking generosity in making this serendipitous gift. The initial gift of $600,000 is an endowment worth about $2 million today and income has been used for grantmaking for almost 50 years! Following their fine example, this selfless act of generosity has been repeated many times by many donors throughout the Foundation’s 40-year history.

Read about a GCF donor who spent time as a child at the Fresh Air Farm.