The Fresh Air Fund is in need of host families to volunteer to give children from disadvantaged neighborhoods in New York City the opportunity to experience life outside of the city. Nearly 5,000 New York City children are granted the opportunity to live in a more spacious environment for two weeks or longer each summer through the Fresh Air Fund.
There are no financial requirements to participate in the “Friendly Town Program.” The host family can choose the age and gender of the visitor. First-time visitors range in age from 6 to 12 and can be invited back through The Fund until age 18. Many families, however, keep in contact all year round and form lifelong bonds.
“We love our Fresh Air guest. He is a part of the family when he is here. I haven’t met a more pleasant and polite kid,” said one Fresh Air host. Host families enjoy rediscovering their community through the eyes of a city child.
For more information about the Fresh Air Fund and hosting a child this summer, call (732) 660-1195 or (800) 367-0003 or visit www.freshair.org.
Chorus to perform at Monmouth University
Liberty Oak Chorus, the award-winning, Freehold-based chapter of Sweet Adelines International (SAI), will perform at the Pollack Theatre, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. The annual event is an exciting showcase of a cappella music featuring crowd-pleasing songs by Quest, an SAI quartet, as well as captivating musical selections from the Mirror Image and Chain Reaction quartets. Special guests for the evening will be the OCVTS Performing Arts Academy Vocal Ensemble, a group of talented high school age students from Ocean County, under the direction of Mary Huhmann.
For ticket information and directions, visit www.libertyoakchorus.org.
IBD support group meets at Monmouth Medical
An ongoing support group for children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and their parents meets the fourth Thursday of every other month at 7 p.m. at Monmouth Medical Center, 300 Second Ave., Long Branch. The group formed in February. Call Dr. Jonathan Teitelbaum at (732) 923-6080.