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Fresh Air Families Welcome New York City Kids To Westport

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. – A group of 22 kids from New York City arrived in Ridgefield on Wednesday to spend a week or two of swimming, camping and taking part in other fun summer activities through the Fresh Air Fund.

Ambria Hall, Ann O'Brien and Jameek Hanks prepare to spend a fun week in Ridgefield through the Fresh Air Fund.

Ambria Hall, Ann O'Brien and Jameek Hanks prepare to spend a fun week in Ridgefield through the Fresh Air Fund.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
Lindsay and Sarah Adrianowycz greet Kimberly Pena in Ridgefield and get ready to take her home to Katonah for swimming, kayaking and canoeing.

Lindsay and Sarah Adrianowycz greet Kimberly Pena in Ridgefield and get ready to take her home to Katonah for swimming, kayaking and canoeing.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
Oliver Thomas, Credy Madrid and Flor Thomas said they're going to spend the week in Weston swimming.

Oliver Thomas, Credy Madrid and Flor Thomas said they're going to spend the week in Weston swimming.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
Families waited for the bus of kids to arrive with signs and balloons welcoming them.

Families waited for the bus of kids to arrive with signs and balloons welcoming them.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue

The Fresh Air Fund is a nonprofit agency that matches New York City children with host families in rural, suburban and small-town communities for summer experiences. The kids will stay with families from Ridgefield, Wilton, New Canaan, Easton, Westport, Sherman, Weston, Redding, Southport and Katonah. The kids will spend time at day camps, have a pool party, and go on an overnight camping trip.

For some of the kids, visiting their Fresh Air family is like coming home. Laura Craighead is one of the Ridgefield coordinators for the Fresh Air Fund, and her family has hosted Shawnelle Francois every summer since he was 6 years old. Now that he is 18, he is spending more of his summer with them, and even got a summer job as a counselor with the Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield before he heads off to college this fall.

“We’ve folded him into our family,” Craighead said. The family has taken Francois on trips to Vermont and Rhode Island, and he spends his time in the summer hanging out with her two children. “They think of him as another one of their brothers.”

Sarah Adrianowycz of Katonah and her daughter Lindsay were hosting a child for the first time this year. They had been talking with 7-year-old Kimberly Pena on the phone for a couple weeks before her arrival, and were planning on taking her to an apple orchard after she arrived.

“We’re going to go to the beach. We live on a lake so we’ll take her kayaking and canoeing,” Adrianowycz said. She added that Kimberly was excited to spend time with the family’s four dogs, two cats, lizard and bunny. “Linsday’s excited to have a younger sister that she can go shopping with and take to the pool.”

Ann O’Brien is another one of the Ridgefield coordinators, and she will be hosting 13-year-old Ambria Hall and 14-year-old Jameek Hanks. She said that many organizations reach out and help provide a great experience for the kids. The Boys & Girls Club of Ridgefield is letting them use the facility for a pool party on July 9, and the Aldrich Museum is offering free memberships for host families. She said it’s not too late for families to sign up to host kids.

“It doesn’t have to just be families with kids. Hosts can be empty nesters, grandparents, single people, anybody who’s willing to show the kids a good time,” O’Brien said.

Additional Fresh Air visits are scheduled throughout Fairfield County for July 6-13, July 11-22, July 27-Aug. 3, Aug. 1-8 and Aug. 11-18. If you are interested in hosting a child, contact Laura Craighead at 203-894-9034, Lisa Harder at 203-438-7238 or Ann O’Brien at 203-244-8778.

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