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City kids visit the country

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.– Since 1877, the Fresh Air Fund has given children, from New York City, a chance to visit the country. Since the program began, about 1.8 mil...

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.– Since 1877, the Fresh Air Fund has given children, from New York City, a chance to visit the country. Since the program began, about 1.8 million kids have participated.

Many of the children are from low income families. Though it costs the fund about $1,700 per child, the program is free. Most of their funding comes from donors. The kids stay with host families.

July 1, about 40 kids made their way to Cumberland County. One of the kids is Kamar Telfer Keston. Keston says ” I love this camp”. For the last two summers, he has stayed with the Charleston family for a week.

“I went swimming, went to the beach with some kids, and I went canoeing,” he said.

“It’s exciting. I love it myself. I love being able to give back. I love meeting new people and giving these kids an experience that they otherwise wouldn’t have in the city,” said his housing mom, Liz Charleston.

Charleston has been hosting kids for the last 10 years. She remembers her high school best friend’s family participating and knew she wanted to be a part of the program.

Host families are not paid.

Kids as young as 6 can be in the program. After the age of 12, a child must be invited back by his or her host family. Some kids do stay in the program until they are 18.

There will be two other sessions this summer and the program will continue next year.

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