After hearing about The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family Program from a friend, Suzan and Lou Baldoumas along with their children Cleo, Daphne, and Demitri decided to invite Ethan, a six-year-old from Queens, to visit their Carlisle home for a week over the summer in 2013. “I’ve only heard about really positive experiences,” Suzan said, “I also thought it would be great to give our children an opportunity to spend time with someone that is from a different background.” The opportunity they took turned into much more than they could have ever imagined. On top of giving Ethan the summer experience of a lifetime, they feel as if they have gained a new family member.
The Fresh Air Fund, an independent, not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income neighborhoods since 1877. Each summer, over 4,000 inner-city children visit suburban, rural, and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada through The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family Program.
The Baldoumas family’s days together during Ethan’s visits over the past two years consisted of everything they typically do during the summer, just with a new addition along. The days are full of hanging out on the farm, picking blueberries, going into Boston, and playing tennis. But throughout the busy week Suzan had planned for Ethan, she realized that what he truly enjoyed was just being part of the family.
Find out what's happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Ethan experienced many firsts like going out to dinner at a restaurant, hitting a tennis ball, and for the first time in his life, being able to just run free in the yard. He even discovered he has a new favorite animal. After watching seals and being in “complete and utter awe of them”, he became fascinated with the creatures that the locals have become accustomed to. For everything that Ethan has experienced, the family has gained even more. Demitri, their youngest son, learned the valuable lesson of selflessness from his experiences with Ethan. As Suzan recounted, “Demitri really learned for the first time to think about others before himself and to think from other people’s perspectives. The lessons we’ve all learned from Ethan are truly priceless.” Cleo and Daphne, the older siblings, learned more than just the Chinese 101 the six-year-old taught them. They learned to appreciate all that they take for granted on a daily basis.
The Fresh Air Fund is always seeking host families to enable as many New York City children as possible to benefit from a summer experience outside of the city. To learn more about how to become a host family in the Concord-Carlisle area, please call Emily Olsen at 212-897-8889 or visit The Fresh Air Fund online at www.freshair.org.
