volunteering
Lea Heitfeld, an au pair from Germany, was recently named the national first place winner of the first-ever Au Pair in America Community Service Award.
Lea was named the winner of the award for the state of California, where she cared for the children of a Danville, CA family. She is also one of fifteen state winners of the Community Service Award for her volunteer work during the 2012 calendar year, three of whom were declared national finalists with first, second and third place winners awarded.
At a recent lunch hosted by InterExchange, Jill Harrington, the Executive Director of the North Country Ministry (NCM), thanked the international students for helping solicit donations for NCM and recognized the importance of cultural exchange for both the Lake George community and for Americans interested in going abroad to learn about other cultures and countries.
Summer Work Travel USA international students, host employers and other members of the community attended to deliver their collected donations and spend time with their peers and colleagues from Lake George.
Summer Work Travel students took to the trails in Saco, Maine, as part the Center for Cultural Interchange's Going Greenheart Tour. CCI staff members, Erin Nyhan and Muffy Grant, along with 20 CCI Work and Travel participants worked with the Old Orchard Beach Conservation Commission on a variety of projects, from maintaining trails to installing fence posts at a community garden.
An exchange year for high school students is oftentimes a life-changing experience. Yet, the student is not the only one who grows and transforms. Local Coordinators, the individuals who find schools and volunteer host families in their communities, walk with the student throughout their exchange program and are the lucky ones to not only witness the change, but also experience it themselves. Here is a personal story from one Local Coordinator, who is also a managing Area Coordinator in Wisconsin for the Center for Cultural Interchange.
The Summer Work Travel (SWT) program is in full swing and for Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) that means the Going Greenheart Tour is visiting SWT participants, their employers and their communities all across the U.S.
New York, NY, May 18, 2012 --- InterExchange Au Pair USA au pairs, who are hosted by families in the Bergen and Passaic Counties, had an opportunity to give back to their adopted community this month when all 21 au pairs volunteered at the Go the Distance for Autism Bike Event on Sunday, May 6th.
Dawn Middleton, the InterExchange Au Pair USA Local Coordinator for Bergen and Passaic Counties, says volunteering at the event was a way to show support and love to one of InterExchange’s longtime host families, the Snyder family, who has a son with autism.
Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) encourages their high school and university-aged participants to get involved in the Greenheart Club. The Greenheart Club offers participants the resources and support to volunteer in their host community, and recognizes their efforts with awards. Summer Work Travel participants who volunteer over 40 hours are eligible to receive a Greenheart Grant, an award of up to $500 to do a service project in their home country.
While studying at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, Global UGRAD-Pakistan student Sikandar became actively engaged in community improvement work, raising funds for the local Putnam County Habitat. Now, he is busy volunteering to help children with disabilities in his home community in Pakistan.
