Claire Tate was immersed in nature at an early age.

"I grew up in Georgia, and my grandparents lived in the country," Tate said recently. "I first put a worm on a hook when I was 3 years old. I grew up in the outdoors and enjoyed it."

Along the way, she decided all children, particularly those in financial need, should experience nature and the outdoors.

Today she's executive director of the nonprofit Partners in Out-of-School Time (POST). The Charlotte-based organization works with after-school care providers, summer camps and other entities to provide learning opportunities for children.

"I wanted to help fill the summertime void, and I wanted children to experience what I experienced," Tate said. "Fishing in a lake with a cane pole. Being in the woods. Canoeing on a river. Making new friends. Seeing the wonder of many different kinds of leaves. The beauty of the clouds and the splendor of the mountains. The good tired that comes from being outside."

That's how the Summer Camp Fund began three years ago.

The fund is the joint effort of POST and The Charlotte Observer. Readers are asked to make monetary donations to help economically disadvantaged children attend summer camp.

Tate approached Observer Publisher Ann Caulkins about the project, and Caulkins agreed to partner in the cause.

"I thought the Summer Camp Fund was an initiative that our readers would want to support financially," Caulkins said.

"The outdoor experience is such an important one for all children. Summer camps have long been available mostly to children of means, and that is so unfortunate. By sending low-income children to camp, we have sparked their appreciation of nature and given them an education on the great outdoors."

The fund is patterned after the Fresh Air Fund in New York City. That fund was founded in 1877 and is still supported by the New York Times.

However, The Observer's support for summer camps dates to the late 1930s, when then-owner Curtis Johnson started what was called the "Observer Fresh Air Camp," according to Jack Claiborne's book "The Charlotte Observer: Its Time and Place, 1869-1986."

Similar to today's fund, readers at that time were asked to donate money so economically disadvantaged children could attend camp. That effort led to what we know today as the YMCA's Camp Thunderbird.

Tate says summer camp provides opportunities for children to grow and develop skills that will make them better students.

"There's data that supports the premise that the outdoor environment of summer camp improves self-esteem and confidence, increases motivation for learning and helps children develop new skills and talents," Tate said.

Dr. Arnold Snitz, a local pediatrician, says being outdoors at summer camp is important to a child's physical well-being.

"We're seeing children with tension problems, problems with sleep, and children with a deficiency in calcium and vitamin D," Snitz said. "There's a sharp increase in childhood obesity. Kids don't get outside and play enough. We've got to get them out and get them physically active instead of sitting in front of a screen all day long."

Thanks to readers' generosity, the camp fund is helping children who possibly wouldn't attend camp.

This summer, the fund is providing $55,330 in scholarships to send 173 campers in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties to 13 camps across the region.

Next year, organizers hope to help even more children. Money donated now will make that possible.

"Every one of these children belongs to us in a collective way," Tate said. "When all our children have the opportunity to continue learning and building skills during the summer, then all of them are better prepared for our collective future. The fresh air and exercise makes their bodies stronger, and the trees and streams fill their souls."