District 5710 Rotary Youth Exchange is seeking Rotary Clubs to sponsor high school age exchange students for the 2023 - 2024 school year. The program will start the first week of August 2023.
Is your club interested in getting involved in Rotary Youth Exchange but need help finding host families? Keep in mind that host families don’t have to be Rotarians, so broaden your search beyond just making announcements at club meetings. You might just recruit a host family and a new club member at the same time.
Selling points for the program and tips for recruiting host families:
RYE likes to have at least two and preferably three host families for each student, so a host family doesn’t have to commit to a full year of hosting.
- With two or three host families per student it is only a three to five-month commitment.
- If you sign on to be the first host family, you get to select the student.
- The other host families and the student’s counselor are backup for you if you need to take a trip without the student or if family emergencies come up.
- The D5710 Rotary Youth Exchange program provides lots of support with a network of Rotarians to help, experienced counselors, local coordinators, and district coordinators readily available.
- You don’t have to be a traditional family with kids in high school to be a good host family and you don’t have to be a Rotarian. Single parents, empty nesters, gay couples, or other non-traditional families can all be considered. We are looking for stable homes with loving host parent(s) and an extra bedroom.
- The students are great kids that you get to form life-long relationships with (and have great places to visit overseas!)
More details can be shared if you have any interest. Contact D5710 YEO Stephen Wheatley (913) 426-0576, wheatleydc@sbcglobal.net or Inbound Coordinator David Beck (785) 817-0144, David.BeckRYE@gmail.com for more information about sponsoring a student. More information about Rotary Youth Exchange is also available at SCRYE.org.