Growing up in New York City, Anthony Sanchez remembers a childhood marked with little access or exposure to nature. Not until age thirteen, when he was enrolled in a parochial school in upstate New York, did Anthony have an opportunity to really immerse himself in a nonurban environment and appreciate things that many rural residents take for granted, such as ice skating on a frozen pond, riding horses, and hiking through the woods. He felt a connection to the natural world that he never realized was possible before, and it became an experience that would change his life.

In the hope that other children of color from low-income urban areas could also be exposed to the rich variety of nature away from big cities, Anthony co-founded the Eagle Eye Institute in 1991. Focusing on environmental education for underserved urban youth, whose schools tend to overlook environmental science, the Eagle Eye Institute promotes the "beauty and care of trees and forests in both rural and urban settings," encouraging an overall respect for nature. "In order to make that happen," Anthony says, "we have to build a bridge between those who have the knowledge and resources and those who are disconnected. We must connect the disconnected."

Serving as executive director of the institute, Anthony Sanchez developed outreach and educational initiatives that have connected over four thousand low-income urban youth with the power of nature, providing them access to natural rural places while learning from natural resource professionals. From the Harvard Forest in Petersham to the Berkshires, where the institute leases 180 acres of forest, Anthony's organization has introduced literally thousands of children to parts of their state – and parts of the natural environment – with which they might not otherwise have become familiar. "When you breathe the fresh air in your lungs, it makes you happy," one of the program's participants notes. "That is the most important part – it makes you happy."

Anthony sees his role as providing access – the sort of first-time experience that, in his case, made him see the world around him in an entirely different way. To children whose closest conception of the natural world is one of skyscraping office towers and the sounds of cars, he offers to them instead forests of towering trees and the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.

To learn more about Anthony Sanchez and his cause, and how you can make a difference, please visit: www.eagleeyeinstitute.org.

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