AFS (originally the American Field Service) was established in 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew, a onetime economics professor at Harvard University and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Begun as a service of volunteer ambulance drivers in 1914,[1] AFS has evolved into an international youth exchange organization and has been renamed the AFS Intercultural Programs.
Worldwide, AFS is a group of over 50 independent, not-for-profit organizations, each with its own network of volunteers, professionally staffed office, and volunteer board of directors. In 2007, almost 13,000 participants traveled abroad on AFS cultural exchanges between 65 countries, as supported by 36,000 active volunteers. [2] The U.S.-based affiliate, AFS-USA, sends more than 1,500 U.S. students abroad and places international students with more than 2,800 U.S. families each year.
As of 2008 there are over 55 AFS organizations worldwide, serving over 80 different countries, providing exchange opportunities for over 12,000 students and teachers annually.
Modern Day
AFS is one of the largest volunteer-based organizations of its kind in the world with more than 30,000 volunteers worldwide and more than 8,000 in the U.S. Tens of thousands of volunteers and a small staff make the AFS program happen worldwide. AFS volunteers are both young and old, busy..professionals and retirees, and students and teachers. AFS provides development and training opportunities for volunteers.
AFS volunteers help in many areas including facilitating the AFS mission in the local community and schools by finding and interviewing students and families. Further involvement includes serving as a contact person for an AFS student, organizing fund raising events, and arranging activities for AFS students. As volunteer-driven organisation, AFS depends on donations of time to implement and monitor the delivery of programmes.
