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Program gives families a new addition every summer

Jonathan and Jeremiah clown around for the camera. Reminder Publications submitted photo
By Danielle Paine

Reminder Assistant Editor



SPRINGFIELD - For the Smuda family, having another child for three weeks every summer is like a breath of fresh air.

Four years have gone by since this family of six signed up for the Fresh Air Fund's Friendly Town Program in which families throughout the Northeastern United States and Canada host children and teenagers from New York City in their homes for two weeks every summer.

After reading an article about the Fresh Air Fund in The Reminder four years ago, Smuda shared the information with her husband Daniel and their four children, Joseph, 24, Hannah, 22, Jonathan, 18 and Hadassah 16. They were apprehensive at first, being a large family in a modest home without a guest room. Staff with the fund reassured them that their living room futon and love would be more than enough to give.

"Sometimes people think that if they don't have a big house that they have nothing to offer," Smuda said. "But the beauty of the Fresh Air Fund is that anybody willing to invest in people can be a part of it."

Becoming a host family turned out to be more of a blessing to them than it could ever be to Jeremiah, Brenda Smuda explained.

"He is like the most amazing kid," Brenda Smuda said. "He is always smiling and ready to do whatever we have planned. He is always so appreciative of everything."

Sharing the simple joys of living in Western Massachusetts has been the most rewarding part of the experience for them. During their first summer with Jeremiah, the Smuda's took him to the ocean for his very first time. Ever since, they have made sure to plan a trip to the beach with him every summer. His other favorite pastime is swimming at Spec Pond, something they try to do daily.

"Just seeing how grateful he is makes me more grateful for the things I have and the things I've gotten to do," Brenda Smuda said.

Jeremiah, who will soon be 12, began spending his summers with the Smuda family when he was eight years old. Brenda Smuda hopes he'll return every year until he's 18 and by then, she anticipates that he will want to come back on his own.

These summer vacations have also been a blessing to Jeremiah's grandmother, Brenda Smuda said, who raises him alone just two blocks from Central Park in New York City, while working full time.

"I know his grandmother works really hard to make sure he's not cooped up in the apartment or wandering around the city all summer for obvious reasons," Brenda Smuda said. "So this is a real help for people."

The Smuda children said that they love having a little brother around and talk to him via www.MySpace.com throughout the year.

"There is a lot of pressure there for him to be cool at home around his friends but when he comes here he can just relax and be a kid again," Hadassah Smuda said. "He knows that we accept him for who he is and he doesn't have to try to be cool or anything."

Two years ago, the Smudas used their option of extending Jeremiah's stay. Now he is with them for three weeks, the second of which is spent as a camper at Pine Brook Camp in Shutesbury where the Smudas work as counselors each summer.

"It is a benefit to all of us, especially to the kids and to see things from a different perspective has been helpful for all of us," Brenda Smuda said. "To take someone from a different ethnicity or background and realize that we all have the same needs and aspirations."

Executive Director of the Fresh Air Fund, Jenny Morgenthau explained that the program had humble beginnings.

"It was founded in 1877 when a minister who worked in Manhattan, moved to a rural parish in Pennsylvania," she said. "He asked his parishioners to invite a child out to visit for literally, the fresh air, because there was a lot of Tuberculosis back then. So it was really just a simple idea that continues today."

In more modern times, the fund has become an opportunity for city kids to see new places and make new friends. Morgenthau added that host families almost always say they get more than they give.

Just like the children, host families come in all forms from many different backgrounds. Families with and without children, with modest to big budgets are all a part of the program.

In Morgenthau's words, "All you need is room in your home and love in your heart."

For more information about the Fresh Air Fund, call the local chapter volunteer, Lorie Dixson at 567-1890 or visit www.freshair.org.