We know we live in a beautiful place. And we know we’ve got a climate that makes it easy to enjoy the outdoors throughout the year.

So why don’t we just get out there and go? Is it a question of finding the time or just making the choice between so many great opportunities?

Fresh Air Family, a nature education organization, offers one way to overcome those obstacles, with easy access to more than 200 activities throughout the year for families, individuals, schools and groups.

“We explore nature in the most beautiful and magical places with the experts who can help us find things that few people ever see – a rare bird, fish, plant or animal,” said founder and executive director Verna Gates. “We find the best places to go and the people to take us there.”

Participants study all aspects of the natural world, from rocks to stars. They get up close and personal with snakes, salamanders, frogs, fish, animals, plants, mosses, fossils, bugs, bats and birds.

They have traveled from the Walls of Jericho in North Alabama to Dauphin Island on the Gulf Coast, learning from college professors and expert naturalists. Trips organized on one recent Saturday included tubing down the Cahaba River and a field trip to see wood storks, kites and grasshopper sparrows with the Birmingham Audubon Society.

“We work very hard to keep our programs free and low cost,” Gates said. “Under the blue sky, everyone is equal and we want to make our amazing natural heritage accessible to all.”

On  weekends in August, naturalists Brittney Hughes and Darryl Patton showed participants how to look for medicinal plans along the west fork of the Little River in DeSoto State Park. Participants also learned about “Pet Rocks and Geology” with a trip to Oak Mountain State Park. On Oct. 10, they were set to return to Oak Mountain Park for a visit with Vicky Smith, AKA "The Batlady," for a presentation on these unique flying mammals.

Fresh Air Family often connects people to programs already going on at centers for outdoor fun, such as our own Birmingham Botanical Gardens. On Sept. 5, the Dr. George Washington Carver program at the Gardens introduced participants to the life and scientific contributions of this important African-American scientist.  On Oct. 3, the Alabama Woodlands program will highlight the interaction between woodland plants and animals.

“We want to make sure everyone can connect to great opportunities at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Ruffner Mountain Nature Center, Ebenezer Swamp or Rickwood Caverns and Oak Mountain state parks,”  said Gates, a wildflower expert who has taught her own classes at the Gardens in the past. “We want all of the nature organizations to grow with us to make a better quality of life in our community."

Founded in 2006, Fresh Air Family now has an outreach that includes more than 10,000 people, two after-school programs, three additional school programs, a summer camp and ambassador program for “tweens,” and has expanded into north and south Alabama. 

“We knew there was a need for our program, we just didn’t know how great the need was. The tremendous popularity of our program is a wonderful opportunity to really tackle some of the issues in Alabama, including education, obesity, environmental awareness, youth leadership and building healthy families,” Gates said.

Those efforts have been recognized with grant support from private foundations and the federal government, as well as a recent grant from the State of Alabama to work with the Alabama Obesity Task Force by providing activities for the 2010 class of Scale Back Alabama. A 2009 grant from the Community Funds of the Community Foundation provided Fresh Air Family with support for strategic planning to make sure their next steps bring continued success.

To find out more about how you can participate, check Fresh Air Family’s Facebook Page or to the Fresh Air Family website. To register for an event, e-mail events@freshairfamily.org or call (205) 401-0245.