To the Editor:

Schenectady residents, the Casey family, are enjoying a winter visit with their Fresh Air child, Brian. The Casey family hosted Brian last summer through The Fresh Air Fund’s Friendly Towns Program.

The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. Each summer, close to 4,000 children visit volunteer host families in rural, suburban and small town communities across the East Coast from North Carolina to Maine and Ontario, Canada.

Brian is a 7-year-old boy from New York City, and he stayed with the Casey family for the first time this past summer.

Kristi Casey first heard of The Fresh Air Fund when she was young, and a family she knew would host a child every summer. Now with a family of their own, Kristi and her husband, Christopher, made the decision together to start hosting last summer.

“Brian just slipped right into our family, helping set the table and emptying the dishwasher with our kids,” Kristi said. “We feel lucky to have met such a wonderful little boy and to share in his life.”

This past summer, Brian and the Casey family watched the town of Alplaus’s Fourth of July Parade (which Brian dubbed “the candy parade”) and saw a drive-in movie at The Great Escape. The Casey family also took Brian out on Sacandaga Lake in their boat, and Brian got to try fishing for the first time. He didn’t catch anything, but had a blast, nonetheless.

Bianca Kroening

The Fresh Air Fund

Editor’s note: Bianca Kroening is a public relations intern with The Fresh Air Fund.