Get Fresh Daily Youth Environmental Fund

My name is Jiana Murdic, and I’m the Founder of Get Fresh Daily. We are raising funds to cultivate the next generation of environmental advocates through programs that foster a love of nature.

 

How? By getting more children outside, enjoying and engaging in the great outdoors! 

 

Why is this such a big deal? 

 

Because too many children don’t go outside anymore - especially if they live in a neighborhood with little access to green space, or if those spaces saturated with air and noise pollution, or if there’s a fear of harm or violence.

 

Being inside has made children fearful of getting dirty or even the smallest bug. Too many kids have never climbed a tree or enjoyed simple pleasures like walking barefoot in the grass or daydreaming at the clouds.

 

How can children advocate for the environment if they don’t know the joy of being outside?

 

Since Summer 2018, Get Fresh Daily, has hosted outdoor-based camps and after school programs that empower children of color with the tools needed for healthy living:

 

·   How to grow and harvest organic fruits, vegetables and herbs from seed in our gardens 

·   How to cook and eat plant-based

·   Learning how these foods can heal us and keep us well

·   Weaving it all together through mindfulness, fun and joy

 

We teach children how to live in harmony with themselves, each other and the Earth.

 

When the pandemic and quarantine hit and being outside became more important than ever, we lost our camp and after-school funding in addition to access to the school where we held our programs. 

 

We knew that the pandemic was disproportionately devastating our children’s mental, emotional and physical health, so without funding or resources, we hosted our youth programs anyway.

 

Thanks to incredible support from local partners, we’ve been hosting all of our programs this year 100% outside. However, without funding our entire staff practically volunteered their time to support these efforts.

 

But boy was it worth it! The children have learned about the trees and ecosystems found in their own backyard and in our local parks. They’ve hiked, foraged, explored wildlife in ponds – even learned how to canoe. 

 

They even took off their shoes and did yoga in the grass.

 

It’s amazing how much they’ve have grown in such a short amount of time. Now they’re asking every day - when is it camp season again! We are more committed than ever to getting the children outside in nature as much as possible. We even want to add camping to our year-round offering.

 

Please help us keep going!

Please help us keep the momentum going and help us make environmental-based youth programs part of our year-round programming. 

 

The money I raise here will be used to: 

·   fund scholarships for camps and after-school programs, allowing more children to attend and allowing us to pay our staff and counselors a fair wage

·   provide seed monies for spring and fall camping trips

·   cover healthy, plant-based breakfasts and lunches during camp

·   support arts programming and transportation costs

·   support myself with a small stipend (where I have received no pay for this work in the last year and a half)

 

Goal 1: $10,000.

·   $6500 – will offset camp and after school fees for 25 children for 6 weeks of camp

·   $3500 – will offset our spring camping trip fees by 50% for 25 children 

 

Goal 2: $20,000. Above + $10,000 will cover the above plus:

·   $3500 – will provide meals and snacks for 25 children for 6 weeks of camp

·   $3000 – will support arts programming and transportation costs for 6 weeks of camp

·   $3500 – will offset our fall camping trip fees by 50% for 25 children

 

Goal 3: $40,000. Above + $20,000 will cover all of the above plus:

·   $20,000 – will be able to give myself a small stipend to supplement my income for this work

 

 

All donors will receive hand written notes from our campers! Thank you so much in advance for your help and support!

 

To learn more about me and Get Fresh Daily, please check out our website getfreshdaily.org or follow us on Instagram @getfreshdaily. #getfreshdaily #campexcellence #freedomgreensandgardens #imagineabetterfuture

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Get Fresh Daily's CultureTrust is our fiscal sponsor, providing us with our 501c3 status while we build and grow. All donations are directed to Get Fresh Daily. *