Catasauqua residents Bill and Dee Knerr welcomed a girl from New York City to spend some time living in a small town this summer. They were participating in the Fresh Air Fund program for the first time this year.

Carol Lopez was one of 25 youths from Big Apple boroughs who arrived at Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship Church earlier this month. They were to spend a week or two with Lehigh Valley host families courtesy of Fresh Air Fund Lehigh Valley.

For some of the children, it meant reuniting with families they had stayed with in previous years. For others, it was a new experience with first-time hosts.

Families participating in the program were from Coopersburg, Whitehall, Schnecksville, Kutztown, Allentown, East Stroudsburg, New Tripoli, Factoryville, Easton, Emmaus, Zionsville, Center Valley, Birdsboro, Breinigsville, Catasauqua, Macungie, Bethlehem and Fleetwood.

The 25 children, ages 6 to 18, left the city to perhaps run barefoot in the grass, care for animals, visit a theme park or the shore, and generally to be exposed to experiences not found in daily life in a big city.

The Knerrs said they planned day trips to the shore, Knoebel's Grove amusement park and other fun experience for Carol during her visit with her host family.

The Fresh Air Fund is an independent, not-for-profit agency that has provided free summer experiences to nearly two million New York City children from low-income communities since 1877.

Each summer, more than 4,000 children visit volunteer host families in rural, suburban and small town communities across 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada through The Fresh Air Fund's Volunteer Host Family Program.