Our Story
Founded in 2006, Fresh Air Family has grown to offer signature programs, such as Gross Out Camp to more than 1,600 children in 108 camps in 36 locations in 2025. In addition, nearly $110,000 in financial aid was awarded to children whose families could not afford to send them to camp.
Programs include family outings, summer and holiday camps, school field trips, in-school programs, and fossil hunts, along with hiking, camping, canoeing, birding, star gazing, fossil hunting, orienteering, caving and searching for creatures great and small.
Fresh Air Family brings together a diversity of families — young and not-so-young, married, single, adults and children — along with highly trained experts as we explore the natural world together.
Meet the Family
Verna Gates
Founder and Executive Director
Verna worked as a journalist for 35 years. She started her career on the founding crew at CNN. She reported for TIME and spent 15 years with Reuters. She spent 12 years as the president of the Birmingham chapter of the Alabama Wildflower Society. A wildflower enthusiast, she studies ethnobotany -- the cultural uses of native plants. She has written a book on 75 outdoor places to take your family. She is available for events and speaking engagements.
Contact: Verna@FreshAirFamily.org
Paul Freeman
Operations Director
Paul is a freshwater biologist who has worked for
a variety of organizations including the Nature
Conservancy. He was an environmental scientist for the Tennessee Valley Authority. He has served on the board of the Cahaba River Society and other groups.
Contact: admin@grossoutcamp.org
Charles Rose
North Alabama Hike Leader
Charles has been with Fresh Air Family from its inception 20 years ago! He is an excellent botanist and hike leader. He knows North Alabama like few others.
He isn't just gifted as a botanist -- Charles is a member of the Muscle Shoals Horns. He has played with luminaries ranging from Elvis, John Lennon and Bob Dylan. He tours with Lyle Lovett in the summers. He had to cancel a hike a couple of years ago -- Paul McCartney called!
Penny Roy
Gross Out Event Coordinator
Penny is a retired elementary science teacher from the Hartselle City School System. She currently works with Fresh Air Family coordinating Gross Out events. She is a beekeeper and a Master Gardener. But her favorite accomplishment is being a grandmother of five
rambunctious grandchildren.