Jah-Niaya, 11, and Jaheim, 10, are two of the 22 children who call New York City their home, except for the two weeks they spend in Darien as part of the Fresh Air Fund. On July 17, Darien Fresh Air Fund families gathered around picnic tables, on playground equipment and on the shore at Weed Beach for a barbecue. Since 1877, boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18 have been leaving their urban homes for two weeks of suburban living through the Fresh Air Fund. The children selected to participate in the program are from low-income neighborhoods from all five New York City boroughs. In the late 1870s, a tuberculosis epidemic ravaged the crowded tenements and fresh air was considered to be a cure for the illness, according to Fresh Air Fund. In turn, the Rev. Willard Parsons of a small parish in Sherman, Pa., asked members of the congregation to open up their homes to the children of New York City, and with that, the Fresh Air Fund was created. Though they had a learning curve with their respective families -- children learning to share their homes with someone new and adapting to life outside the city -- both look forward to returning to Darien. The kids spend their two weeks together at the SoNo Field House summer camp, bowling, playing video games or swimming. During Jah-Niaya's second year at the Johnston house, Lily, who has an older sister, helped her with her division, a subject area that Jah-Niaya says gives her trouble. Many organizations, Brennan said, will offer discounts for children in the Fresh Air Fund, like the SoNo Field House Great Day Summer Camp.