The Fresh Air Fund – a summer program that brings children from New York City to communities from Virginia to Canada to experience rural and suburban life – is seeking local hosts in Henrico County and Metro Richmond.

Nearly 5,000 children visit volunteer host families every summer through the Fund’s Friendly Town program.
 
“A child taking a walk in the grass barefoot, gazing at the stars, being outdoors and enjoying a slower pace – that’s what it’s all about,” one host parent said, describing the Fresh Air experience.
 
First-time Fresh Air children are between the ages of 6 and 12. More than 65 percent of all children are invited back to stay with the same host families year after year, according to program officials.

The program began in 1877 and has continued as a way for children to escape their low-income neighborhoods, which can turn dangerous during the summer months, and experience simple summer pleasures in rural and suburban communities.

For details about hosting a Fresh Air child, call Kelli Dalseide at (804) 467-6316 or The Fresh Air Fund at (800) 367-0003, or visit http://www.freshair.org