Fresh Air Fund Looks To Recruit Wilton Volunteer Families

WILTON, Conn. -- Local volunteer leaders held an information session at the Wilton Library on March 24 for prospective families to learn more about The Fresh Air Funds Volunteer Host Family Program.

Ann OBrien, local Wilton volunteer, speaks to a prospective family about The Fresh Air Funds Volunteer Host Family Program at the Wilton Library at an information session on March 24.
Photo Credit: *Photo credit: Ann OBrien*

Cassandra Huerta

04/07/2015 4:00 a.m.

Current volunteer hosts shared their experiences hosting New York City children and answered questions. Fresh Air summers are filled with children running barefoot through the grass, gazing at star-filled skies or swimming for the first time. Each summer, close to 4,000 inner-city children visit suburban, rural and small-town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada through The Fresh Air Funds Volunteer Host Family Program. Fresh Air children are boys and girls, ages 6-18, who live in New York City.

Children on first-time visits are 6-12 years old and stay for one or two weeks. Children who are reinvited by host families may continue with The Fresh Air Fund through age 18 and can enjoy extended trips. Over 65 percent of all children are reinvited to stay with their host families year after year. The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877.

For more information about hosting a Fresh Air child this summer, contact Lisa Braden-Harder at 203-241-1289 or visit The Fresh Air Fund online at www.freshair.org.

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