Table of Contents

Children's Fresh Air Fund appeal leaflet
1890
National Archives of Canada, MG 30 C97, vol. 5

Toronto's first project to link play, deprived youth, and social reform was the Children's Fresh Air Fund. It was organized in 1888 by Globe reporter J.J. Kelso. The Fund raised money and supplies to provide day outings for small children and their mothers. After Kelso's departure, the charity was administered by the Children's Aid Society and then the Toronto Star.

Between 1888 and 1893, City Council made grants totalling $400 to the Fresh Air Fund. These were Toronto's first expenditures earmarked for children's recreation.

Kelso was Canada's leading child welfare advocate in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He helped organize the Toronto Humane Society (to prevent cruelty to animals and children), the Santa Claus Fund, the Toronto Children's Aid Society, the Toronto Playgrounds Association, University Settlement, and Central Neighbourhood House. He became Ontario's first Superintendent of Neglected & Dependent Children in 1893.

©2001. City of Toronto