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Provide a Unique Summer Opportunity for Children this Summer

The Fresh Air Fund is reaching out to potential host families for summer 2016.
The Fresh Air Fund helps children ages 6 to 12 living in crowded urban areas throughout all five boroughs of New York City to spend one to two weeks with a host family to experience rural or suburban life. The Medlin family (Karen and Steven, Bailey ’07, Kylie ’15) started hosting Fresh Air kids more than 10 years ago. In this video, they talk about the experience. Read more below….


Every child looks forward to summer and a few Ranney families have the opportunity to help make sure that more children have the opportunity to experience the wonder of summer in extraordinary ways. Through the Fresh Air Fund, children ages 6 to 12 living in crowded urban areas throughout all five boroughs of New York City are able to spend one to two weeks with a host family to experience rural or suburban life. According to the nonprofit’s website (www.freshair.org), the program has one simple mission: “to allow children living in low-income communities to get away from hot, noisy city streets and enjoy free summer experiences in the country.”

The program, which will run Monday July 11-Monday July 18, 2016, reaches 13 states, primarily along the East Coast, and a few Ranney families have made it their mission to bring these children to New Jersey’s Monmouth and Ocean counties for a summer they won’t forget.

Mrs. Karen Medlin (Bailey ’07, Kylie ’15) heard about the Fresh Air Fund as a child growing up in Manhattan and thought it would be a great opportunity to give back to the city as an adult and as a parent. She and her husband, Mr. Steven Medlin, live in Marlboro and started hosting Fresh Air kids more than 10 years ago.

Over the years, the Medlins—who have three girls of their own—have hosted four Fresh Air girls, two of whom were twins and just recently graduated from college; they came back summer after summer and the family remains in touch with the girls to this day. “The first thing we learned is that, as a host family, you don’t have to plan activities 24-7 for the children. They love hanging out...and just being out of the city,” she says. “They also enjoy doing simple things like arts and crafts and going on scavenger hunts in the parks.”

Today, Mrs. Medlin serves as the representative of the organization for Western and Northern Monmouth County and conducts interviews with host family applicants across the county. She welcomes any questions for interested Ranney families.

Both Fresh Air children and their host families benefit from the experience. Says Mrs. Medlin, “We watched our children become more aware of the real world. My kids were amazed to see how the children we hosted were essentially raising themselves, and our host children were amazed by the simplest of things, such as the true ‘quietness’ of the night."

“The program is just one week—and you can make a huge difference in that one week,” says Mrs. Medlin. “Even if you don’t expect a major difference in your life or in the life of the child that you host, it can greatly affect your Ranney student’s life. Our eldest daughter, Bailey ’07, was greatly impacted by the children we hosted and is now pursuing a graduate degree in social work and occupational therapy because of the experience.”

More than 65% of Fresh Air children are re-invited to stay with their host families year after year. Host families can request the age group and gender of the child they wish to host. There is an extensive screening process before a family can be accepted into the program. There is also a special program for those families who wish to host a child that may have special physical or emotional needs. Learn more on the Fresh Air Fund website at www.freshair.org or by contacting Mrs. Medlin directly at 732.308.9355 or 3grlsmom@optonline.net. 
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777
Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society. 

We envision Ranney School as a nurturing learning community, in which families, faculty, alumni, and all of Ranney’s constituents collaborate to know and value every child, foster individual talents, sustain powerful connections between children and adults, and graduate resilient, globally-minded citizens.