At Children’s Aid, we care about what the future looks like for our young people. We want to make sure that every young person has a chance to succeed, no matter where they come from. We do that by surrounding them with services to ensure that they can be healthy and well educated.

Our passion for young people drives us to focus not only on individuals and their families, but also on communities, our city, our country – and indeed, the planet.

Today is Earth Day, an annual reminder of our responsibility to preserve and protect our planet – our home. The theme for Earth Day 2023 is "Restore Our Earth," which highlights the need to protect and restore the natural systems that support life on our planet. This includes protecting biodiversity, conserving natural resources, and reducing waste and pollution.

Children play a critical role in protecting the environment. By teaching them about the importance of environmental conservation and engaging them in activities that promote sustainability, we can inspire them to make a positive impact on our planet.

To support that education, we provide our children with the resources that they need to have healthy and sustainable diets. Our Go!Chefs classes teach children about the delicious and nutritious food that can be included in a vegetarian diet – which has a profound and positive impact on reducing climate change.

Our Food Box program also promotes a healthy and local diet by providing free or reduced costs meals fruits and vegetables that are sourced from local farms.

We also encourage our children to spend time in our outdoor spaces and to marvel at the wonder of the natural world – even in the midst of New York City. Our schoolchildren take trips to zoos and parks. And last year, we revamped many of the green spaces that we own, making them more environmentally friendly – and helping us to source garden-to-table meals for them.

And this year, our children on Staten Island also participated in a community art project that emphasized the power of recycling.

By educating children about these issues, we can help them understand the importance of protecting the environment and inspire them to make a positive impact on our planet. And we will help them preserve and protect our environment for future generations. Together, we can ensure that all children have the opportunity to grow up in a healthy and sustainable world.