ALTAMONT — The Hans family of Altamont were winners in the Fresh Air Fund’s 2019 photo contest. 

Their photo of the two Hans boys with Jeffrey, from Queens, who spent a week with the family this summer, was selected from among hundreds of photos submitted by volunteer host families along the East Coast and southern Canada. 

The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer experiences to more than 1.8 million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877. The agency does not release the last names of the Fresh air children.

The Hanses’ photo won in the “Summer Siblings” category. It shows Matthew Hans, Jeffrey, and Zachary Hans, seated at the top of the steps to the family home, arms around one another, smiling broadly. 

Jerilyn Hans, mother of Matthew and Zachary, said the visit was “wonderful,” and that all three boys got along really well. 

It was great fun, she said, to explore the community with Jeffrey, taking him to the Bozenkill pool, a concert in the park in Altamont, on adventure walks at Five Rivers, and even to a drive-in theater. 

Jeffrey also just really liked being able to ride his bike around outside, Hans said. 

Hans said her older son, Matthew, had told her, “It was such a neat experience. I want to do it again.”