NSHSS’ partnership with the U.S. Department of State promotes international understanding by connecting NSHSS members with U.S. Department of State-sponsored international high school exchange students. Seven NSHHS scholars joined Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) students from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan as well as exchange students from Japan, Honduras and Brazil for an April 27 Global Youth Service Day event in the greater Los Angeles, CA area. 

The students came together to celebrate Global Youth Service Day by volunteering at Safe Place for Youth, a non-profit volunteer organization that reaches out to homeless youth in the Venice, CA area. Safe Place provides a hot meal twice a week and many services targeted to their needs (http://www.SafePlaceForYouth.org).  The NSHSS and exchange students prepared "snack packs" to be distributed by Safe Place to the youth they serve and wrote “care notes” to encourage the homeless youth through this chapter in their lives, letting them know someone cares.

In addition to volunteering, the students had a great time just getting to know each other--playing music, packing and cleaning up as a team. Karen Cross, an AFS volunteer working with State Department programs commented, "We look forward to partnering with NSHSS again, and Safe Place for Youth was so appreciative!! They want to schedule our next packing session, so I am considering making it a quarterly activity…it is powerful to have the teen-helping-teen activity to create their awareness of the issues!"

We plan to have more activities like this one and encourage our members to consider hosting one of the almost 2,000 State Department-sponsored students representing over 50 countries who arrive in the fall. Visit hosting.state.gov to learn more.