Do you live in a rural area and want to share your love of animals and wide open spaces with city kids? If so, the Fresh Air Fund is looking for you! What a great way to teach an inner city kid why they should respect animals and how to interact with them.

The Fresh Air Fund is in need of host families for this summer.  Host families are volunteers who open their hearts and homes to children from the city to give a fresh air experience to disadvantaged children from the inner-city.

In 2009, The Fresh Air Fund‘s Volunteer Host Family program, called Friendly Town, gave close to 5,000 New York City boys and girls, ages six to 18, free summer experiences in the country and the suburbs. Volunteer host families shared their friendship and homes up to two weeks or more in 13 Northeastern states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.

So here’s where those of us who love animals come in according to the Fresh Air Fund organizers:

We are looking for host families in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, New Jersey, and Southern Ontario in Canada.  The children are from New York City and are selected through a variety of channels from social works to community leaders.  Often in the inner city, animals like dogs are seen as a threat rather than a loving member of a family.  Part of the Fresh Air Experience is changing this perspective for youngsters.  Also, of course many of the apartments the kids grow up in are far too small for pets, which is another great opportunity provided by pet loving hosts.  To the best of our efforts animal loving children will be matched with similar families.  Finally, the time-frame for hosting is from June-August.

Here’s the site with more info:  http://freshairfundhosts.com/