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Local AFS volunteers urge more host families as post‑COVID participation lags
Summary
Volunteers with AFS—an international student exchange program—appeared at the May 10 Independence City Council study session to describe recent hosting experiences and ask the community to recruit new host families after participation fell from pre‑pandemic levels.
Bruce Lowery, a longtime local AFS volunteer and former Independence city clerk, told the City Council on May 10 that the Kansas City area AFS program has struggled to restore host‑family participation following the COVID‑19 pandemic. "We have had a little difficulty generating interest in involvement with our AFS program since the trauma of COVID," Lowery said, and he urged residents to open their homes to exchange students for a semester or a school year.
The city presentation framed AFS as a volunteer‑run student exchange that began nationally in 1947 and in Independence in 1959. Lowery said Independence has hosted "over 437 students since then," citing local volunteers' records as the source of that tally. He noted that prior to 2020 the program typically placed as many as 10 students in the city's four high schools each year; since the pandemic the program has placed two students in some years and currently has none living in Independence.
Steve Grafeo, who with his family hosted a student from Vienna for the fall semester, described day‑to‑day experiences of hosting. He said the student took part in Truman High School athletics and classes, "stepped out of his comfort zone," and enjoyed extracurricular activities ranging from football games to choir concerts. "He loved being part of the team here," Grafeo said, and thanked the council for tickets to a Mavericks hockey game that he said the student attended.
Kathy Hallberg, Kansas City Area Chair for AFS, emphasized the program's long‑term personal impacts. She recounted host‑family stories spanning decades and offered examples of former students who pursued international careers. Hallberg said the AFS network includes volunteers across the Kansas City metropolitan area and that the program can place students only in accredited school districts; she noted Kansas City schools gained accreditation about a year earlier and could again host students if families step forward.
The presenters asked residents to consider hosting and provided contact information for AFS volunteering and hosting. Lowery closed by encouraging anyone interested to reach out and to help recruit other families.
Why this matters: City officials and volunteers framed the appeal as rebuilding a long‑standing cultural‑exchange program that previously involved multiple students per year and that supporters say produces sustained, cross‑cultural relationships.
The session included no formal action on AFS funding or program administration; volunteers were at the meeting to inform the council and seek community leads for prospective host families.
