Karen Medlin first met Jade and Jadelle Alexander when the twins took a bus to Monmouth County at the age of 10 to escape the stale summer heat of their neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The twins, who are now 20 and about to graduate from college, relied on the kindness of a few strangers — Medlin, her husband and their three daughters.
Earlier that year Medlin signed up her family to host children who would be sent to New Jersey by the Fresh Air Fund of New York City. The Alexander twins spent a week, and consequently several other stretches of time, at the Medlins’ home in Marlboro.
The Fresh Air Fund, a nonprofit organization that has been around for about 150 years, sends children from underprivileged areas in NewYork City to suburban and rural communities known as “friendly towns,” Medlin said. She said the trips take place during summer vacation and usually last a week or two.
“It takes the kids out of the hot, crowded, boring city and they come out here to a ‘friendly town’ for a week,” Medlin said. “It’s very different here. At night it’s very dark and quiet.”
Medlin now has 10 years as a volunteer host under her belt. She became the FreshAir Fund’s chairwoman for northern and western Monmouth County about three years ago. When the children from New York City step off a bus in Holmdel Park this summer, they will be greeted by a flock of enthusiastic hosts, Medlin said.
“The host families usually arrive with balloons and posters,” she said. “Everybody is excited.”
Afterward, the hosts spend time getting to know their young guests, Medlin said. There are no mandatory events for the children to attend, but the Fresh Air Fund does organize a water park excursion and an opportunity to participate in a surfing class, she said.
“Some families run around like crazy and show the kids everything,” Medlin said. “Other kids just hang out in the backyard.”
Common sights in a town like Marlboro, such as a herd of deer grazing in a backyard, often captivate the young vacationers, Medlin said.
More than half of the children who stay with a host family return to that same household the next year, Medlin said.
“They form close relationships. The kids become part of the family,” she said. “They will come in the winter, too, during Christmas break or over the President’s Day weekend.”
Jadelle recently visited the family, Medlin said, and they keep in touch through social media websites.
The bond benefits people on both sides, Medlin added. Her daughters, who are now 24, 19 and 15, are “different kinds of people because they have been involved in the lives of the kids,” she said.
As a local chairwoman, Medlin is responsible for interviewing potential host families and matching them with the right children. That is not an easy task, she said, considering a lack of volunteers caused hundreds of youngsters to miss out on a vacation opportunity last year.
The FreshAir Fund does not discriminate in choosing hosts, she said, adding that “empty nesters,” same sex couples and all local families are welcome to apply. The FreshAir Fund conducts a background check on potential host families.
“Even if it’s not for you, maybe it’s for your neighbor who just needs to be told about the FreshAir Fund,” Medlin said.
Lori Schilling, a Manalapan resident, and her family joined the program as hosts last summer. They now consider their former guest, Imani, 11, to be a family member, Schilling said.
“We love her. We talk to her all the time,” she said. “Imani and her mom spent Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl with us.”
Those who are on the fence about welcoming a Fresh Air Fund child into their home should not hesitate, Schilling added.
“It is a wonderful, eye-opening experience. It is very enriching for the child and the hosts, and it’s a lot of fun,” Schilling said.
Medlin will be conducting interviews with potential host families until the first week of June. Visits will take place from July 13-20. People who are interested in hosting a Fresh Air Fund child this summer may contact Karen Medlin at 732-308-9355.