Dear Friends, Family, Acquaintances, Former Host Families, Wannabe Host Families, Anyone with the slightest interest in Foreign Exchange or no interest at all ….
This is my call out for HELP!
I have a group of 15 Spanish Students arriving from Spain on June 24th and departing July 26th. I still have more than half the group to place and I am in dire need of great host families.
If you live anywhere in the State I will make sure that we transport them to you. They arrive in Detroit and we bus them to the area where they will be staying.
If you live near the airport you have the option of greeting them there. If you are located North of Ionia, we can transport there as well or make arrangements.
I am outlining some details of the kids who need placement and their interests.
Please contact me if there is any way that you can help out. Please pass this information along to your contacts as well.
They need a bed but not necessarily a private room.
They can share a room with a host family member who is within 3 years of their age.
They come here fully insured and our liability insures your family.
They have ample funds to subsidize their stay so there should be no concern about covering all their costs.
The host family obligation is to house and feed the student and include them in any or all activities you enjoy in the summer. If you are able to host for even half of the stay we will try and work with you and split their stay between two families. If you have plans with your family that does not accommodate the student, we will work with other families to cover a weekend or a week while you are gone.
Any family configuration is welcome: Young, Old, children in the home or not, One Parent …. As long as the family is loving, inclusive and willing to share their time and resources with a foreign student.
I have one girl (17) who is an equine expert or at least training to be. She owns her own horses and trains children.
My boys range in age from 15 -17. All of them are interested in sports and many of them play soccer, basketball, tennis, and love for beaches and swimming. I have one student who plays the electric guitar with friends in a neighborhood band, one who enjoys hiking and is involved in a Spanish youth group similar to our Boy Scouts.
A couple of my students live with extended family very near-by and they spend a lot of time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Most of them love video games and would like to experience camping as they have heard of our love for it but it is uncommon there.
I have a couple of boys who have allergies to cats and one that is allergic to shellfish.
By and large, they all express their love of all animals and there is no fear of dogs in the group (whew!) The parent’s occupations are varied: Doctors, engineers, business owners (embroidery), computer experts, and lawyers and office workers.
Many of the kids have been on summer programs before here in the states so they are accustomed to and ready for American Adventures or just settling into summer life here.
The English skill level of the majority of the students is probably an 8 or higher on a scale of 10. A large part of their journey here is to improve their conversational English and they have been taking language classes since elementary school.
Thank you in advance for considering the notion of being a short term host family or at least passing on this information to any of your friends, family, co-workers or neighbors who might be interested.
I am behind the 8-ball so to speak and already in panic mode, because there are no options…they are coming! Because this group is made up almost entirely of boys, I have had to pass by some great families who can only accommodate female students.
Thank You again and I look forward to hearing from some great families.
Karen Gregory, Global Friendships, Inc
616-340-9182
GLOBAL FRIENDSHIPS, INC.
3300 Jeffrey Lori East, Finksburg, MD | 21048 | 443-277-0858
Mister Journalism: "Reading, Sharing, Discussing, Learning" 