Berks County host families held up home-made signs welcoming 10 New York City children to Berks County as their bus arrived at Salem Evangelical Congregational Church in Lenhartsville on July 8.
The Fresh Air Fund’s Lehigh Valley Committee welcomed 10 New York City children to spend one or two weeks with volunteer host families in New Philadelphia, Douglassville, Hamburg, Port Carbon, Lenhartsville, Auburn, Blandon, Fleetwood and Kutztown.
Another group of 14 New York City children also arrived in Lenhartsville on July 15 to spend one or two weeks with volunteer host families in Lebanon, Nazareth, Hamburg, Macungie, Kutztown, Emmaus, Allentown, Fleetwood, Topton, and Schuylkill Haven.
Many more New York City children will spend time with host families in Berks County this summer.
“Some children are leaving home for the first time, while others are returning to visit the same host families for consecutive summers, according to the Fresh Air Fund release.
Jenae Holtzhafer with the Fresh Air Fund estimated about 100 New York City children will visit the Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and Berks county region this summer. She said low income New York City families who qualify can participate in the program. This is the Fresh Air Fund’s 140th summer.
“Our host families volunteer to give them a week out of the city just to try some new things. We’re calling it a kind of cultural exchange experience now. It’s a cool opportunity for hosts and kids,” said Holtzhafer.
Holtzhafer said they are seeing an influx of immigrant New York City families participating in the program. There are children from China, Nepal, Africa.
“All over the world and who now live in New York, whose parents speak a different language but the children are bilingual. So it’s very true to the cultural exchange experience,” she said. “We have your typical kids growing up in the city and then we have kids from all over as well.”
Kari and Jim Gavenus of Lenhartsville and their niece Gillian Gavenus welcomed Uzo Ikeanusi, 13. This was their first time as a host family. They heard about the Fresh Air Fund from a friend and thought it was a really great program.
“We’ve got a great property in the country and we don’t have kids of our own so we thought it would be fun that somebody could come enjoy and see all the things they can enjoy in the area,” said Kari, noting that her family owns Clover Hill Winery and they have a vineyard on their property. “We have woods and trails and all sorts of stuff like that.”
They planned to visit the Velodrome, a music festival, visit the alpacas at Kari’s sister’s home and other outdoor actitivies.
“There’s so much to offer in this area. Some people don’t always get the chance to come and do things like this. Just to be able to share our pretty little area of the world with somebody else is fun,” said Kari.
Steve and Kristie Rapp of Fleetwood, along with their children Emma, 9; Zack, 15; and Karle, 16, welcomed Alyssa Taylor, 9. This was their first time as hosts. They thought it would be nice to host a child their youngest’s age.
“We thought it sounded like something fun to do,” said Kristie.
“Give somebody an opportunity to see our part of the world,” said Steve.
Plans included Dorney Park, Ozzie’s, Oley Valley Dairy, picnic, and Shady Maple.
Hamburg resident Betty Atkinson welcomed the return of Kylee Velez, 13.
“I love it,” said Atkinson about hosting for the past 20 years. “I think it’s a great opportunity for hosts to meet and for children to come out from the city.”
Atkinson is still in contact with the first child who spent a week with her family.
“She’s now 26 and has three children. She’s coming to spend a few days with us at the end of July,” she said. “It’s a good program.”
Douglassville resident Janet Farley and her children Jenna, 12; Jackson, 14; and Ryan, 15, welcomed Darielle Santana, 12. This was their first time hosting.
“The kids actually have been wanting to do it,” Janet said.
Plans include swimming and laser tag.
She hopes they gain a friend and an opportunity for next year.
According to the Fresh Air Fund release, “The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Each summer, close to 4,000 children visit volunteer host families in rural, suburban and small town communities along the East Coast from North Carolina to Maine and Southern Canada through The Fresh Air Fund’s Friendly Towns Program.”
For more information, to volunteer or to become a host family, visit www.freshair.org.
