Since 1877, the nonprofit organization Fresh Air Fund has provided free summer vacations to more than 1.7 million children from New York City neighborhoods.

Yohance Primus, an 12-year-old boy from Brooklyn, is one of those lucky children. Primus was asked to return to the Faughnan household in Levittown this summer for the third year in a row.

"My kids developed a strong bond with Yohance that summer so we decided that we would love to host him again the following year," Theresa Faughnan said.

Faughnan and her husband first discussed opening their home to a Fresh Air Fund child in April of 2003.

"The Fresh Air Fund coordinator spoke with me and said they needed to come to see our home and to interview our family, including our children," she said. "Two people from the Fresh Air Fund came to our home and interviewed. They answered all our questions and put as at ease and told us someone from the Fresh Air Fund is available 24 hours if needed while the child is at our home. We needed to give references, which were checked, to make sure we would be suitable hosts."

According to his host parent, Yohance is not only fun to have around, but also great with her own children, now ages 7, 11 and 14.

"He was very quiet at first but my boys loved being with him," she explained. "Both he and my boys are wrestling fans so that broke the ice. In a few days he really warmed up to the surroundings."

The friendships the Faughnan's have forged with both Yohance and his family are "priceless" Theresa said.

"It has been such a wonderful experience for my family and I am so thankful we decided to host a Fresh Air Fund child. We give to the child, and they in turn give so much back by just being part of our family and sharing our home."

Children are selected to participate in The Fresh Air Fund Friendly Town program based on financial need. Children are from low-income communities, with the majority receiving some form of public assistance. Fresh Air children, boys and girls from 6 to 18 years old, visit over 300 Fresh Air Friendly Towns in the summer. Fresh Air children on first-time visits to Friendly Town host families are 6 to 12 years old and stay for two weeks. The program also has a special one-week option for New York City families who would like to host children on their summer vacations in the country. Over 65 percent of all children are re-invited to stay with host families, year after year. Re-invited youngsters may continue with the Fund through age 18, and many spend the entire summer in the country. Fresh Air children and volunteer families often form bonds of friendship that last a lifetime.

Fresh Air Fund volunteer host families open their homes to inner-city children for two weeks or more in the summertime. There are no financial requirements for hosting a Fresh Air child. Most hosts simply want to share their homes with inner-city youngsters. Host families are not paid. The Fund has a program for placing children who have special physical or emotional needs.

To become a host family, volunteer or make a donation call 800-367-0003 or visit www.freshair.org.