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Opening Homes And Hearts Vermonters And The Fresh Air Fund

photo by Teresa Smith Fresh Air child Brianna Watson getting psyched up for her first ever ski lesson during her stay in Vermont with the Smith family.

photo by Teresa Smith Taking the Snow Bowl by storm! Brianna tries out downhill skiing!

photo by Teresa Smith Hunter and Maddy Smith skating with Brianna Watson at the ice rink in Middlebury over Christmas break.

Tuesday January 10, 2012

By Cookie Steponaitis

   Have you ever tried to explain what life is like in Vermont to someone from another part of the country or globe? Do you focus on the small town lifestyle where people know you by name, or the sense of personal space and quiet solitude you have connecting with nature, or perhaps the wonder of the four seasons with the potential for walking, biking, swimming, hiking, skiing, four wheeling, or any combination of recreational sports, or maybe even add in the feel of a cow’s soft nose, the crisp fall air or the tart taste of a fresh apple or the simple scenario of looking for someone and finding them at the local store or the local food stand?

   Maybe you even shared stories of school spirit assemblies with school colors, or even camouflage and Carhartt, or that unmistakable but welcoming smell of spring when the tractors are on the road and the fertilizer is fresh on the fields. For those who live here and call the state home, this is Vermont. However, for children from New York City you might as well be speaking of a place that exists in science fiction.

    The Fresh Air Fund, a non-profit organization created a wondrous partnership with thirteen northeastern states and friendly towns and people and since 1877 has offered to over 1.7 million New York City children a vacation in the country. The Fresh Air Fund marked its 135th summer in 2011 and the program continues to be a constant in establishing life long links between children ages six to eighteen years old who live in New York City and families around New England who invite them to stay for two weeks during the summer in towns which currently number 305. The towns have their own volunteer committees and chairpersons but the real story of the Fresh Air Fund and its summer in the country program can only really be told through the eyes of the children and the families serving as a host.

    For Teresa Smith and her family, summer and winter are marked by more than changes in the season. The Smiths are a host family and have been a part of the Fresh Air Program for five years. It all began when they moved here. “I had heard about it previous to moving to Vergennes,” remarked Teresa Smith.  “I found out that Vergennes was a friendly town with the Fresh Air Fund.  I inquired and we started by being interviewed by Marion Sullivan. A host family provides a warm and loving environment that will also introduce the child to different experiences” Maddy Smith, age ten, interjected and shared, “Brianna, our Fresh Air child, enjoys picking fresh produce from our garden, especially tomatoes. She likes to eat them for breakfast!” To hear it from Andy, Maddy, and Hunter Smith, “the Fresh Air Program has been fun, exciting, offers new perspectives, new friends, wonderful cultural exchange, building memories and life long relationships.” Not only is the Smith family enthusiastic about their experience, but their Fresh Air Child Brianna Watson echoed the element of fun and bonds made through her visits for the past four years to the Smith family. Living in Brooklyn Brianna came for the first time as a Fresh Air Child in 2004 and has been viewed as another of the children in the clan. Brianna remarked, “Before I came to Vermont I thought it was going to be boring and not fun. I think people shouldn't think that it's a program that you go and meet strangers. I think people should think of it as an opportunity to try something new and to meet new people. The Fresh Air Program for me is fun and an amazing opportunity. I love staying with my Fresh Air Family and I love all the things we do and the activities that make Vermont such a wonderful place in all four seasons.”

       Local Fresh Air Fund chairpersons Marion and John Sullivan are no strangers to this bonding experience and have themselves served as hosts for the past eighteen years, blending the fresh air children into their own family of six children ranging in age from nine to twenty-eight. Children coming for the first time stay up to two weeks, but children who are invited to return by their host families may stay for extended visits. Some of the Sullivan’s favorite memories include swimming, camping and spending time with other families hosting children. “Each child we’ve hosted holds a special place in our lives,” shared Marion. “All of them were ‘ordinary’ kids that held an ‘extraordinary’ grip on our hearts.” It is that bond that keeps Marion and John involved each year. The Fresh Air Fund provides transportation for the visiting children and arranges for payment of any medical expenses for children without insurance. Volunteers can request an age group or a gender for the Fresh Air youngster that they might like to host. Any one interested in learning more about this time honored program should check out the website www.freshair.org or contact Marion Sullivan at (802)877-3028.

    So, what are you waiting for? Think of the memories of childhood that Vermont offers our children and those magical memories of playing outside; the laughter, the swimming, the pleasure of a cookout, a walk through the woods or the wonder of seeing the night sky or a ripple as it circles out across Lake Champlain. Contact Marion and see where you and your family fit into this tradition. As Rita Dove remarked, “All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, this is when I became myself.” Join in with those like the Smiths and the Sullivans who define part of their summer by the smiles, laughter and sharing involved with hosting a Fresh Air Fund child.

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