Local News
Local family knows that peace begins at home
By media release
Aug 5, 2007

McGuffey family signs petition to support peace through student exchange

August 2, 2007, New York, NY—The McGuffeys recognize that in a war-plagued world that is in desperate need of solutions, every effort counts. That’s why they’re turning theory into practice and signing a petition to promote peace through a phenomenon they have witnessed first-hand—student exchange.

AFS, a leader in international high school student exchange, is launching a petition drive in honor of the organization’s 60^th anniversary, and asking the world’s leaders to expand student exchange programs around the world to promote a new kind of diplomacy. With 30,000 active volunteers and nearly 12,000 exchange students annually in over 50 countries, the organization is difficult to ignore.

The McGuffeys of Duncanville, TX have been a host family in the past, and they are now looking forward to next week when they will be providing a home for two more exchange students. 

“AFS is about helping people recognize that although we have a lot of differences in traditions and languages, when we get down to it we’re all the same,” said James McGuffey.  “We’re a lot more alike then we are different.”

Started after World War II by former volunteer ambulance drivers with a mission to promote understanding and avoid future conflicts among people, AFS is founded on promoting intercultural acceptance and a diverse worldview.  Today, this vision is carried out by the exchange students and volunteers who participate in the AFS program and, in particular, by the host families who welcome these foreign students into their homes.     

“It’s like having an extended family,” said McGuffey.  “I can talk to the students the same way that I talk to my biological children.”

The peace petition effort will culminate during the AFS 60^th anniversary celebrations in New York on October 26-28, during which time representatives from AFS and other notable international personalities plan to present the signatures to the United Nations.  Until that time, AFS urges anyone who is interested to sign the petition at www.exchanges4peace.org and make an individual effort to initiate international change.

About AFS

For 60 years, AFS Intercultural Programs has been leading international high school student exchange. AFS was founded by volunteer American Field Service ambulance drivers from World Wars I and II who believed—as AFS believes today—that the way to build a more just and peaceful world begins when people from different countries meet, learn about each other, and begin to understand each other. AFS is a worldwide nonprofit and is largely a volunteer-driven organization. Here in the United States, AFS-USA welcomes more than 2,800 international high school students who live with U.S. families and attend local high schools, sends approximately 1,700 U.S. students on year, semester, and summer programs abroad, provides more than $1.3 million in scholarships and financial aid to U.S. students who want to study abroad, and is supported by 5,000 U.S. volunteers.

For more information on how your family can welcome an international student into your home and family, to study abroad or volunteer, call 1-800-AFS-INFO.