The Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley recently celebrated the 1 millionth home weatherized with funding from the United States Department of Energy.

The Schnecksville home of Andrew and Lee Ann Garton was the site of a ceremony honoring the hard work of community action agencies around the country.

The weatherization program provides older homes with insulation, windows and other money saving features to create a safe environment for families while saving money on monthly heating and cooling bills.

Weatherization saves the average home $437 a year in heating and cooling costs.

The Garton family, with their four school-aged children, said they are very appreciative for the program.

"We had absolutely no insulation in our home, which was built in 1905," Andrew Garton said. "It was like a sauna in the summer and an ice locker in the winter."

The Gartons found out about the program through a television commercial.

The couple want to spread the word about the CACLV and how much effort it puts in to helping local families.

Andrew Garton said his family stands to save more than $10,000 over the course of their 25-year mortgage and countless more for all the years they own their home.

He said his four boys will now be able to have a more comfortable lifestyle while learning lessons on energy independence and financial planning.

The CACLV has operated a weatherization program for 28 years and receives funding from the Department of Energy, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, PPL, Metropolitan Edison and UGI.

CACLV hires small businesses from the area to install weatherization products.

Alicia Miller Karner, president of the CACLV board of directors, said they take pride in contributing to the local economy while helping residents.

"Weatherization is the kind of investment that pays dividends to society in so many ways," Miller Karner said. "It reduces our dependence on foreign sources of energy; it protects the environment by reducing the damage done by extracting resources from the ground and burning those resources; it creates jobs; it reduces the need for taxpayer-funded energy assistance and, most importantly, it saves families like the Gartons from the burden of bills they can't afford to pay, while improving the comfort of their home."