Shandra Rogers (center), of New York City, enjoys time in the sun and sand at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch on July 20 along with other youngsters who spent a weeklong summer vacation with Monmouth County host families through the Fresh Air Fund. PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff A day at the beach capped off a week of fun for 9-year-old Iniya, who was away from home for the first time in her life, thanks to the FreshAir Fund.
“It was great because we did all different types of things, like Six Flags and the beach,” the Manhattan native said while admiring the jellyfish she found at the shore. “I love being in the water during the hot weather; my favorite part was being in the pool.
“I liked being in the wave pool, it was so cool, and the slide,” she added. “We went to so many things, it was so much fun.”
FreshAir Fund host families and their young guests spent the day at Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park on July 20 before the children headed back to their homes in New York City the next day.
Under the organization’s Friendly Town Host Families program, volunteers open their homes to innercity children for one week in the summertime. The local volunteer committee selects families after reviewing applications, visiting them in their homes and checking their personal references, according to the FreshAir Fund.
Thirty-four families from northern and western Monmouth County welcomed city children on July 14 at Holmdel Park, and what ensued was seven days of fun.
Iniya spent the week with Michael Trischitta’s family in Marlboro, and Trischitta said hosting a child also had an impact on him.
“It was a lot of fun. We went to Hurricane Harbor, we went to Chuck E. Cheese,” he said while standing on the beach in Long Branch. “We went to the neighbor’s swimming, we went bowling.”
Trischitta said part of the reason the week was such a success was because of Iniya’s outgoing personality.
“She is 9 going on 18,” he said. “She has a lot to say, she talks, and she’s been very good.”
Trischitta said this summer is the family’s first as a host family with the Fresh Air Fund and they would consider taking in a child next year.
Aimee Trainor and her family, Marlboro, are hosting Jen, a 9-yearold who lives in Harlem, and said they are enjoying the experience.
“It’s awesome. We are having a great time with her,” she said. “We think she’s having a great time.” Trainor said some of the activities that the family and Jen have enjoyed include barbecues, swimming and bowling.
They also have taken in the beach and amusements and rides at Jenkinson’s boardwalk in Point Pleasant Beach.
Trainor said Jen fit in well with her twin 8-year olds, Owen and Cali.
“It was like they’ve known each other forever,” she said. “The minute she got off the bus and I introduced her to Cali, they were holding hands going through Holmdel Park.
“Itwas like they were best friends for years.”
Karen Medlin, who serves as the chairperson of the Fresh Air Fund for western and northern Monmouth County, said this year has been a bigger success than past years, with the weather playing a large part.
“This is the first time in all these years where seven days of weather has cooperated,” Medlin said. “This is the rare exception that I haven’t gotten a call that there was a lot of homesickness going on.
“Of my 22 brand-new families, 20 of them were 100 percent success stories.”
She also said the experience of hosting children from New York City is one that her whole family is impacted by.
“It was enlightening because it not only changes our kids who are living in the ‘land of entitlement,’ but it changes my husband, it changes the city kids,” Medlin said.
She said the 34 host families include single-parent households, same-sex families and emptynesters.
One of the challenges for Medlin is finding places willing, like Strollo’s Lighthouse Ices, Hurricane Harbor and the Monmouth County Park System, to donate time and events for the visiting children.
“I like to approach places in Monmouth County where the kids can have a good time,” she said. “I haven’t really been that fortunate.”
The FreshAir youths range in age from 7 to 12, and Medlin said that being a host is a worthwhile experience.
“I tell everyone to give it a try because it’s only a week,” she said.
Children are referred to the program by more than 90 social service and community organizations across the five New York City boroughs.
According to the FreshAir Fund, approximately 10,000 New York City children enjoy Fresh Air programs annually. More than 5,000 children visited host families in suburbs and small-town communities across 13 states in 2009, including New Jersey.
In Medlin’s chapter, this year’s families from Aberdeen, Holmdel, Keyport, Little Silver, Matawan, Red Bank, Sea Bright and Shrewsbury have all agreed to host a child for two weeks.
For more information about volunteer programs, visit www.freshair.org or call 212- 897-8900