Fresh Air Fund seeking volunteers

The Fresh Air Fund’s Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex area volunteer leaders are currently seeking committee members and host families to ensure that summer 2006 is special for New York City children.

Each summer, close to 5,000 children, ages 6 to 18, enjoy two-week vacations with volunteer host families in suburban and small town communities across 13 northeastern states from Maine to Virginia and in Ontario, Canada.

Local Fresh Air Fund volunteers recruit and interview host families, check references and coordinate Friendly Town Program activities in their communities.

Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex area volunteers need residents’ help to create another fun-filled summer for children from New York City’s low-income communities.

“In Brooklyn, you don’t see a lot of grass,” explains Shanay, a 13-year-old girl from Brooklyn, “There are not too many parks where you can go without your parents being scared.”

In 2006, the Fresh Air Fund will continue its 129-year-old tradition of serving children with a wide variety of special events and volunteer opportunities.

For more information on how to join a local Fresh Air Fund volunteer team, call Donna-Lyn Zapcic at (732) 946-4195, or the Fresh Air Fund at (800) 367-0003. More information about the Friendly Town Program is available at the Web site www.freshair.org.