Fresh Air in Pound Ridge

Erika Long is never surprised to see Aliyah, of Harlem, NY, knee deep in mud looking for frogs. “She just loves being outside,” says Erika, whose family has been part of The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family Program since 2009. This will be the Long’s fifth year hosting Aliyah—and they couldn’t be more excited to bring her back down to the river to search for the wily amphibians.

The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Each summer, over 4,000 children visit volunteer host families in rural, suburban and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.

Erika and her husband Kevin, along with daughter Cassandra (11) and son Aidan (10), share fond summer memories with Aliyah that range from touring the Fusion lab at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to hiking at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation. “We think of her as part of our family,” says Erika firmly.

Erika still remembers the first time the Longs took their Fresh Air child hiking. “I was curious about how Aliyah would do, since she had never done anything like that before,” the experienced host mom recalls. Smiling, she adds, “She took to it right away.”

The simple joys of nature first sparked Erika and Kevin to join The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family Program. “We had been donating every year since I can remember. After our kids were old enough, I thought, ‘Why just give, when we can host?’ After all, at the end of the day, the children need host families.”

The Fresh Air Fund is always seeking host families to enable as many New York City children as possible to benefit from a summer experience outside of the city. To learn more about how to become a host family in Chittenden County, please contact Caitlin Coyne at 212-897-8972 or visit The Fresh Air Fund online at www.freshair.org.