Saratoga Welcomes Fresh Air Kids

SARATOGA SPRINGS — On June 30, 29 smiling New York City children boarded buses for the Saratoga County area, to reunite with their host families at the bus arrival in Saratoga Springs. “I’m excited to go swimming and to watch the stars at night. I can’t see them at night in the city!” said ten-year-old Tyrone about his Fresh Air experiences. Ten children were warmly welcomed at the PBA fields in Saratoga Springs to spend time with volunteer host families in Ballston Spa, Glenville, North Creek, Saratoga Springs, Bennington, Schenectady, Corinth, and Schuylerville. Volunteer host families share their summers for up to two weeks with Fresh Air children, ages seven to 18, who leave behind the city streets to run barefoot in the grass or see the stars at night. Some children are leaving home for the first time, while others are returning to visit the same host families for consecutive summers. This summer, close to 4,000 children will enjoy a summer outside of the city with volunteer host families in suburban, rural 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. The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. For more information about hosting a Fresh Air child, call Melissa Nicolaysen at 518-320-6736 or visit www.freshair.org.