Fresh, familiar faces
City kids return to Vt. for a taste of country life
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Marcus Holmes, 8, of the Bronx, N.Y., is greeted by Kyle Hansen, 9, of Pomfret, as Holmes and 14 other Fresh Air children got off the bus in Rutland after traveling from New York City on Monday. Five children were greeted by families in Fair Haven. VYTO STARINSKAS / RUTLAND HERALD |
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: July 7, 2009
Rutland Town teenagers Georgie Boynton, Arielle LeBlanc and Angelina Prozzo waited anxiously in the parking lot of Grace Congregational Church on Monday afternoon for an old friend.
Eight years ago, the girls met Sheena Meeks, then a 7-year-old from the Bronx, N.Y., when Meeks came to stay with the Boynton family for a couple weeks through the Fresh Air Fund. Meeks has returned every summer since, becoming close with Boynton's friends and enjoying the area so much she's told her host family she'd like to attend the College of St. Joseph.
"She's like my 'summer sister,'" Boynton said, as the girls and Boynton's parents waited for the coach bus carrying the children visiting Rutland to arrive.
A New York City-based charity, the Fresh Air Fund sends underprivileged, inner-city children ages 6 to 18 to live with volunteer host families in small towns, suburbs and farms in 13 northeastern states and Canada, to give them a taste of life outside the towering apartment buildings and concrete playgrounds they know.
This year, 34 children are visiting the greater Rutland area for anywhere from one to six weeks, according to Lisa Pearson, chairwoman of Rutland's program. Pearson is also a host, and on Monday welcomed back 10-year-old Sammy Flores of the Bronx, whom her own son, Jack, describes as his best friend.
"Some of these kids have never actually run barefoot in the grass, gone swimming, definitely never seen a lake or gone fishing," Pearson said. "It's so neat to watch a little child who lives in a large apartment building in New York City see the country."
While some host families choose to take their visitors on vacation or on day trips to places like Great Escape in Lake George, N.Y., most just go about their daily summer routines at home — which is exactly the point, according to Pearson.
"We encourage families to do their normal summer activities and just enjoy country life in Vermont," she said.
First-time hosts Kelsey, 8, and Will McCullough, 9, hope to take 8-year-old Niasia Smith along with them to day camp in Rutland Town during her weeklong stay.
Not all host families have children of their own, however, but that's not a problem, according to Pearson. In recent years the Fresh Air Fund has seen a jump in the number of retirees eager to take in a child, but to make the children more comfortable, they have allowed childless families to take in two Fresh Air kids.
Shelley and Harvey Zara are doing just that, opening their Mendon home to two 12-year-old girls. They waited Monday with a large sign reading "Welcome Kayla and Savonna" and reminisced about their past involvement with the Fresh Air Fund in the 1980s, when they had three kids of their own at home.
"Whatever they want to do, we'll do it. We'll keep them so busy," said Shelley Zara.
About 65 percent of the time children are paired with a family, they're invited back the next year. In Rutland, Pearson said she believes that percentage is even higher.
Some, like Sammy Flores and Sheena Meeks, just become part of the family.
When Meeks stepped off the bus carrying 15 New York City children to Rutland on Monday, it was to signs, balloons, flowers and hugs from the Boyntons.
"It's such a great program," said Taina Bonyton, Georgie's mother. "It really shows that what we have that we take for granted every day — being safe, our beautiful surroundings. The first thing (Sheena) did when she first got here was take off her shoes and run through the grass."
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com