Dozens of families greeted 26 children from New York City at Buttonwood Park Wednesday afternoon as they arrived for their one to two week stay on the Southcoast as part of the Fresh Air Fund summer program. 

Through the program, children travel outside of the city and have the opportunity to experience outdoor activities they would only dream of back home.

Some families have been participating for a number of years, watching their "second" child grow each summer, like Rosemary Hazard 15-year-old Kavon. Kavon has been visiting for six years now, and Rosemary and her family like to keep their own tradition.

"We grill barbecue chicken and that's what he loves and then we go up to Ogunquit, Maine with him and this year we're actually going to go to North Conway and see my mother-in-law because [my son] wants to show him the mountains," Hazard said.

There were also newcomers to the program, such as Erica Thomas who plans to play the next week by ear.

"Where it's the first time, she's only seven, we're gonna just kind of go by what she really wants to do, take her cues. We're gonna see day-by-day how it goes," Thomas said.

This year's host families are located in New Bedford, Fairhaven, Rochester, Freetown, Dartmouth, Lakeville, Mattapoisett and Westport.

Many families said they have an abundance of activities planned for their visitors, including hiking, nature walks, trips to the beach, rollerblading and much more.

The Fresh Air Fund has been operating since 1877, providing over 1.8 million inner-city New York City youths the chance to see the world outside their own concrete jungle.

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