Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, nonprofit agency, has provided free, enriching summer experiences and academic programs for more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income neighborhoods. Each summer, nearly 4,000 Fresh Air children visit suburban, rural and small town communities along the East Coast and Southern Canada through The Fresh Air Fund’s Friendly Towns Program. Fresh Air summers provide children with opportunities to run barefoot through the grass, hike, gaze at star-filled skies or swim for the first time. Fresh Air children are boys and girls from seven to 18-years old who live in New York City. Children who are re-invited by host families may continue with The Fresh Air Fund through age 18 and can enjoy extended trips.

Interested Fairfield and Litchfield county residents are asked to consider being a host family. Local Ridgefield residents, Laura Craighead and Paul Reich are proud of their Fresh Air child Shawnelle’s college achievements; he is currently a freshman at Texas Southern University where he made the Dean’s List his first semester. He has visited Craighead and Reich every summer since he was seven years old.

For more information about hosting a Fresh Air child this summer, call Ann O’Brien at 847-345-4121 or visit The Fresh Air Fund at FreshAir.org.