In volunteering, it is the effort that counts, Tiffin's mayor said.
Mayor Jim Boroff said he is keenly aware the country was built on volunteerism, and virtually every organization runs on volunteers.
"If you have talents, you need to share them," he said.
American Field Service International Programs is an organization that focuses on "building a more just and peaceful world through international student exchange," according to its Web site. AFS Northwest Ohio had an ice cream sundae party Sunday afternoon at First Presbyterian Church and planned to honor its three longest-serving volunteers, Louise Scaife, Joan Condit and Jan McQuistonp.
Boroff, one of the speakers for the program, said volunteering was ingrained in his family, and people learned to live through volunteering. Volunteerism has to start somewhere, he said.
"People talk about doing things, but talk is cheap," he said.
Boroff said he is seeing more and more people having more and more expectations and not being willing to participate.
"It's tougher and tougher to find people, I think, to get in that mode of volunteering," he said.
AFS placed 18 foreign exchange students in the northwest area this year and is sending three overseas next year.
Volunteer Nancy Howe said the organization is looking for host families, and the agency's Web site has information about applying to be a host family. Bob Howe, treasurer for the organization, said it has committed to accept 18 students next year, and it now has about half of the families to host them.
"We're accepting applications," Nancy Howe said.
On the Web
AFS Intercultural Programs:
