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“Summer camp should be recognized as part of the childcare ecosystem, especially for families who are too often locked out of these life-changing experiences because of cost.”
I’m raising my daughter in Queens, but I grew up in Argentina where I was fortunate to go camping with my school. I remember sitting around a campfire with new friends, learning how to navigate differences and conflict—and coming out stronger on the other side. Camp expanded my world in ways my everyday life could not.
When I became a parent, I was adamant I would give my daughter the chance to experience that same kind of growth. But like so many moms, I quickly ran into a harsh reality: Summer camp is expensive.
There are over 14,000 camps across the United States, including nearly 400 in New York State. Parents jostle to secure spots, but for most, they realize how out of reach even the open spots are.
A few years ago, I scrolled through camp options. A week at one traditional sleepaway camp I looked at cost more than our monthly housing expenses.
What I didn’t realize was that I found a solution to this issue years earlier.
When my daughter was still in pre-K, I came across a flyer for The Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit that provides free, transformative summer camp experiences for underserved New York City children. She was too young at the time, but I knew it would be ideal when she was older.
Four years later, I submitted an application to send her to Camp Hidden Valley, one of The Fresh Air Fund’s six free sleepaway camps in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley. The next thing I knew we were packing her duffle for camp together.
Her first summer was a gateway out of Queens to a world she had never seen before. I will never forget the first time she came home and told me about the stars. Not the ones she hoped to see through light pollution in the city, but a sky full of them.
The following year she attended Camp ABC, an all girls camp with The Fresh Air Fund. Since then, she’s been attending Camp ABC every year with girls of different backgrounds from all across New York City.
Camp gave her so much more than just stars. It gave her confidence. She learned how to swim. She faced her fear of spiders and came home proud of her bravery. She made friends from different backgrounds across all different boroughs and discovered new parts of herself.
What I’ve since learned is that her experience isn’t unique. It’s what research shows: 70 percent of parents reported their child gained self-confidence at camp, and 92 percent of campers said camp helped them feel good about themselves. Even more telling is that parents across the country overwhelmingly want these opportunities to be accessible. A recent survey of more than 23,000 parents found that 80 percent support free summer camps for all children.
At a moment when Mayor Zohran Mamdani is pushing to make childcare more universal and affordable, summer camp should be part of that conversation. Childcare does not stop when school lets out for the summer. For working families like mine, access to safe, enriching, no-cost summer experiences is essential.
And as a mom, that time at camp was something I didn’t realize I needed, too—a moment to breathe. Parenting in this city feels like a constant sprint. That time she was at camp gave me a rare respite, knowing my daughter was safe and thriving.
Being able to send my daughter to summer camp also connects us in a special way. My upbringing in Argentina and her life in Queens look incredibly different, but through camp, we now share something meaningful. We both know what it feels like to sit under an open sky, build friendships across differences and grow in ways that stay with you.
That kind of experience shouldn’t be reserved for families who can afford it. Summer camp should be recognized as part of the childcare ecosystem, especially for families who are too often locked out of these life-changing experiences because of cost. The city’s childcare initiative that includes access to free or affordable summer camp would be truly universal.
Every child deserves the chance to see a sky full of stars. Every child deserves the chance to discover their own bravery. And every parent deserves the opportunity to give their child that experience without sacrificing their family’s basic needs.
The writer is a mom who lives in Queens, New York.