April is Volunteer Appreciation Month. This month AFS-USA is pleased to spotlight volunteers from all over the U.S. including: Mary Ann Offer in the World Class Area Team, Elinor Levy in the NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team, Cindy Bader in the Minn-Kota Area Team, Steve Sweet in the Western NY Area Team, and Ann Sweet in the Western NY Area Team.
Read more about our recognized volunteers:
Mary Ann Offer
Oshkosh, WI
World Class Team, Western Lakes Region
How did you learn about AFS and what prompted you to get involved?
We were interested in student exchange, both hosting students and offering our own children the chance to study abroad and everyone said AFS was the best organization.
What keeps you coming back to volunteer each year?
I can get up every morning and say, “I’m working on world peace today!”
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected from your experience with AFS?
AFS has expanded my family and circle of friends to include people from many different places for us borders are only political; we live together in the same world.
Please share the best thing or funniest thing that’s happened to you while volunteering with AFS?
Recently I’ve realized that AFS keeps me younger than my age peers. I have very good friends of many different ages, as well as many different countries and cultures.
What do you want to say to people who might be interested in volunteering with AFS?
If you really like the idea of making a positive difference in the world, whatever your talents, there’s a place for you in AFS.
What’s one thing AFS volunteers and staff don’t know about you?
One of my real inspirations for wanting to be involved with international exchange was my grandmother, Julia Coon, who volunteered with the Traveler’s Aid Society in Detroit on some of her days off from her regular job. She loved to tell me about the wonderful immigrants she helped when they arrived in the US.
Mary Ann has been an AFS volunteer since 1997. Congratulations Mary Ann!
Elinor Levy
Poughkeepsie, NY
NYC Metro & Hudson Valley Area Team, Northeast Region
How did you learn about AFS and what prompted you to get involved?
Over 40 years ago my mother volunteered with AFS and several years ago I met Jessica Greenstein when she was promoting AFS at the Kingston Multicultural Festival. I was happy to volunteer and ended up area team chair.
What keeps you coming back to volunteer each year?
I am a folklorist by trade, daily I work with ethnic and cultural groups. AFS is just a further embodiment of my work which is to bring cultural understanding through sharing to the world.
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected from your experience with AFS?
AFS has enriched my life by putting me in contact with teens who will be the future leaders of their countries, which makes me excited for the future.
Please share the best thing or funniest thing that’s happened to you while volunteering with AFS?
At mid-year orientation, we give the students the opportunity to ask questions anonymously. Last year a student asked if it was ever okay to be rude to an adult. In one voice, all of the adult volunteers (except for me) said a vociferous NO!
What do you want to say to people who might be interested in volunteering with AFS?
It is an adventure, a wonderful trip abroad without ever leaving home. You will meet the most amazing people and learn a lot about yourself while you are learning about others.
What’s one thing AFS volunteers and staff don’t know about you?
That I was married once but have been divorced since 1988. My ex-husband and I are Facebook friends.
Elinor Levy has been an AFS volunteer since 2017. Congratulations Elinor!
Cindy Bader
Marshall MN
Minn-Kota Team, Mountains & Plains Region
How did you learn about AFS and what prompted you to get involved?
I first heard about AFS 8 years ago when a friend said there was a Thai girl in our town who needed a new host family. We ended up hosting her, and it was such an amazing experience that we were hooked!
What keeps you coming back to volunteer each year?
I think it’s because I see the life-changing impact that the exchange has on the students, and I want to help more and more students to be able to experience that.
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected from your experience with AFS?
I have learned SO MUCH from hosting our 8 students… I’ve learned that the world is really pretty small, that all cultures have more in common than you would think, that there are many ways different ways to do the same thing and that my way is not necessarily the best way, that my heart is big and I can love other kids as much as I love my own kids, and when I explain my culture and customs to them, it makes me think about why we do the things we do.
Please share the best thing or funniest thing that’s happened to you while volunteering with AFS?
The best thing about volunteering with AFS is getting to know the students and learn about their countries and cultures.
What do you want to say to people who might be interested in volunteering with AFS?
Volunteering with AFS is very rewarding… don’t hesitate to take the leap!
Cindy Bader has been an AFS volunteer since 2013. Congratulations Cindy!
Steve Sweet
Williamsville, NY
Western New York Team, Eastern Lakes Region
How did you learn about AFS and what prompted you to get involved?
When our son Shawn was in high school, his English teacher was an AFS Volunteer who though that we would be a great Host Family. The next year (2002), we were hosting our fist student. A few years after hosting additional students, Ann and I became involved with the Volunteering while continuing to Host students.
What keeps you coming back to volunteer each year?
Obviously, we have had great experiences with the students, the families, and the AFS program overall.
I work full time at Citibank, so co-workers often call AFS my night job. The AFS Volunteer pay and benefits may not be quite as good, it is just as rewarding.
Starting as a Liaison Coordinator, I was asked about being Area Team Chair. During my time as AT Chair. I have responsible for assembling our annual yearbook, compiling a video, and have maintained our Teams web site. In an effort to make the hosting easier, I have worked with a local Urgent Care facility with many convenient locations, to make sure that they will take the Global Medical insurance as full payment. The have all of the AFS Western New York student Medical Cards so, it makes it injuries just a little easier to deal with.
Some may call these items work – I call them rewarding!
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected from your experience with AFS?
The biggest item is the students that we have hosted over the years. We have hosted 22 students including COR, CBYX, and YES students. While they are all part of the family, some of them have become an integral part of our lives.
When our son got married in 2011, Luca, (Italy 2005-06) was one of 4 groomsmen. When our daughter, Jessica, got married in 2016, 7 of our previous students, (plus the student we were hosting that year) attended the wedding. This special connection to kids from all over the world shows that while we are all different, we are all the same.
Please share the best thing or funniest thing that’s happened to you while volunteering with AFS?
The best times come from 2 different ends of the spectrum. I have been on countless Host Family Interviews and have seen hundreds of first meetings with new students with their new family. This is a once in a lifetime experience for both the Student and the Family and it reminds me of our first meetings with our students.
On the other end of the spectrum, it is truly heartwarming at departure to see both Families and Students crying their eyes out. While the pain is real at the time, it shows the impact of the program, and that we did something right. We try to comfort the Families and Students by noting that it is not “goodbye”, but rather “until we meet again”.
After the year is over, I like to think that I had a very small part of it.
What do you want to say to people who might be interested in volunteering with AFS?
If you are unsure of what to try in the AFS world, I would suggest being a liaison. This gives you exposure to the program with a rather small-time commitment. It is an important component where we are always looking for good volunteers. If you like it, you get more involved or Host a Student. Hosting is the one action that could be the true game changer for you.
What’s one thing AFS volunteers and staff don’t know about you?
Bike riding and skiing are a couple of my favorite things – always look forward to either one!
Steve Sweet has been an AFS volunteer since 2006. Congratulations Steve!
Ann Sweet
Williamsville, NY
Western New York Team, Eastern Lakes Region
How did you learn about AFS and what prompted you to get involved?
We initially became involved in 2002, through our son’s High School English teacher, who was an AFS returnee, who thought our son was a good kid and perhaps we would make a good Host Family. Back then AFSWNY used our High School for Mid-Year Orientations. 18 years and 22 hosted kids later I would say she was correct. Taking the plunge for the first time, was the most difficult, but was definitely one of the best decisions that we ever made for our family. I started Volunteering with our Area Team the following year.
What keeps you coming back to volunteer each year?
For me, it’s working with the kid’s, families and most especially the Volunteer’s in Western New York. We have a great core of really committed Volunteer’s, with all varying degrees of experience to help each other out. The student’s that get placed in Western New York are truly blessed. One of my AFS “hats” is being a Support Coordinator, and even though it can be very difficult, nothing is more rewarding than when you help a family or student navigate through a challenging situation and resolve it and ultimately preserve the placement. My other “hat’ is that of Event Coordinator and that includes planning 3 trips annually to Washington, DC, New York City and Disneyworld for the students and families here in Western New York, along with a monthly get together. I love being with the kids. It is wonderful to meet them as they arrive in August and watch how they develop and grow until their departure in June. It is very rewarding to have kids that you did not host, go out of their way to make sure they visit you when they are back visiting their host families. For me that is the true measure that you have made a difference in someone’s life and makes everything worthwhile.
What have you learned or how have you been personally affected from your experience with AFS?
It’s hard to fully comprehend how much AFS has affected not only my life but that of our family’s. First off, we have all learned not to sweat the small stuff, developed more patience, the importance of being flexible with schedules and sharing personal spaces. We have kids all over the world from all walks of life and cultures that call us their family and that is what is most amazing about AFS. And it is funny what the kids take back home as their favorite moment. For a couple of our kids, it was singing songs in the car, or just simply sitting around our kitchen island just having a conversation while we prepared dinner, that the best moments. Proving once again, that it’s the little things that truly count.
Please share the best thing or funniest thing that’s happened to you while volunteering with AFS?
The funniest thing, that I can share, is on one of our trips to Washington, DC a few years ago, in my hast to grab “thank you” cards for the generous families that hosted our group, I accidentally bought “sympathy” cards and distributed them to all of the families before I realized the error. Everyone got a hearty laugh and ultimately enjoyed the kids and their thank-you gifts.
What do you want to say to people who might be interested in volunteering with AFS?
I would tell them; it’s a life changing decision and you can be involved for as much or as little time that you are willing to give. Don’t waste another minute. JUST DO IT, you won’t be sorry, and you will wonder why you waited.
What’s one thing AFS volunteers and staff don’t know about you?
I am a closet singer prefer listening to music over the TV.
Ann Sweet has been an AFS volunteer since 2006. Congratulations Ann!