Volunteers needed for Friendship Family program

Jerome Wirtz, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·2 min read

Jun. 23—MANKATO — With a large incoming class of international students, Minnesota State University seeks to expand its Friendship Family Program with more volunteers.

The Friendship Family Program pairs volunteer families with international students to help students learn more about the community and life in the United States.

The university expects an incoming class of about 500 international students and is looking to expand the program to accommodate them, said Kristin Odland, who works with the Friendship Family program at MSU.

Families that volunteer should provide the student with resources and help them become more comfortable and familiar with the community. They should serve as a contact the student has if they ever have any questions about something and should conversely be open to learning about the culture and customs of the student they are paired with.

Volunteers are not to provide housing or financial assistance to any of the students. Students are not allowed to ask their friendship family for money and will not be living with them.

Families planning on participating in the programs should plan for a one-semester commitment. Applications for the 2023 fall semester are due Sept. 1. Applications submitted after the deadline will be considered for the 2024 spring semester.

Terri Prange, who has been volunteering in the program since 2008, said she has stayed in contact with most of the students she's been paired with, and that it's not as large of a commitment as some people think it is to touch someone's life.

"It can be really important to even just send a text every month or so and say, 'Hey, I'm thinking about you,'" Prange said. "And when you do build those connections, they can last so long. One of our past students from Moldova lives in Charleston, South Carolina, now, and we've gone to see her the last two winters."

More information on the Friendship Family Program can be found at the Minnesota State — Mankato website: https://www.mnsu.edu/academics/global-education/centers-of-global-education/international-student-services/programs-and-events/friendship-family-program/. Questions can also be emailed to Kristin Odland at kristin.odland@mnsu.edu.

People interested in applying for the program can apply at this link: https://tinyurl.com/4ajts2rm