Kids To The Country (KTC) is a unique program that has been working since 1986 to reduce anger, violence and fear in some of our most at-risk urban children.

Through reconnecting them with nature, the innovative KTC program offers urban youth the opportunity to get out of troubled situations and develop a connection to nature through direct hands-on experience.

These youngsters come from homeless shelters, refugee centers, and low-income neighborhoods. Over 2,800 children have participated since the program's inception.

• create a multicultural exchange in a rural setting for at-risk children,
• build a positive sense of community through
• nonviolent conflict resolution skills, and
• promote the growth of healthful relationships with each other.

KTC structures activities to form lasting feelings of accomplishment and self-worth in each child. The nature school curriculum helps every youngster develop a connection with the land and the rhythms of nature through direct experience, providing them with an enriched world view.

There are so many young people who want to be part of the Kids to the County program. We are constantly in preparation for the seasonal programs, with the longest one in the summer.

Many former KTC kids are returning to become counselors in training.

Many of the yourngsters we get to know are threatened daily with random violence, prompting one of our urban kids to say "I bet there's no shoot-outs here like there are in my neighborhood."

We've seen the unthinkable happen in our schools and in our cities in recent times. We know that ignoring the needs of the children in our community affects us all.

To find out how you can assist or participate in the Kids To The Country program, please email us, or write to: KTC, 425 Farm Road, Suite 3, Summertown, TN 38483

All donations to KTC are tax-deductible.