Coventry family gives NYC girl some fresh air

August 13, 2012

Kammoni (left) with three of her hosts, Allison Lugar (back row), 3-year-old Hayden and 5-year-old Brynn (with sign) after she got off the bus from New York at Roger Williams Park in Providence. Jessica Boisclair. Kent County Daily Times.

COVENTRY -- A child from New York will be joining a local family for the second year to enjoy the summertime in a rural town through the Fresh Air Fund.

The Fresh Air Fund’s Volunteer Host Family Program seeks to help inner-city children enjoy their summertime in rural areas.

Children from New York City’s neighborhoods get set up in 13 states throughout the East Coast from Virginia to Canada.

Coventry residents Allison and Matt Lugar began teaming up with the program last summer when they became a host family for a 7-year-old girl.

Lugar explained that she heard about the program through friends Michael and Stacy Warwick, who also hosted a child last summer.

“We have always felt like God gave us the home that we have to serve others,” she said. “When Stacy Warwick mentioned the program to me I said ‘yeah we have room to host a child for the summer.’”

Lugar explained that when her and her husband filled out the application last summer, they gave an age and gender preference for their host child.

She said her family was given the opportunity to host Kammoni, 7, and show her what summer is like in Coventry.

She explained that she has two small children who got to interact with Kammoni last summer.

“I thought it’d be a great experience for them to come and spend time with them [my children] for a period of time,” she said.

For the full story please purchase a copy of the Aug. 11th edition of the Times.