Maresa Manzione smiles as she recalls her family hosting a Japanese exchange student when she was 12 and when her new friend returned the favor, welcoming her to Japan four years later.
“We had so much fun that my mom got involved as a volunteer placing the students,” she said.
While the group Manzione’s family originally worked with no longer runs its Utah exchange program, the nonprofit Mountain West Cultural Exchange now brings Japanese kids to the Rocky Mountain area to stay with local families.
The spring program runs March 25–April 3, 2025, and the nonprofit is now looking for host families.
Manzione, who chairs MWCE, said the ideal family would be open-minded, desiring to learn about another culture and share their own and ready to build a lifelong friendship. Families are given a small stipend for gas but are expected to cover other expenses. For spring, they are required to have a child at home already.
“The expectation is they treat the delegate as part of their family and incorporate them into their family,” she said.
MWCE is expecting 15 delegates aged 11 to 17 and one adult chaperone needing host families. Prospective families may learn more about the delegates on the MWCE website.
While it’s not a “sight-seeing experience,” Manzione reminds families that the delegates are traveling across the world, likely for the first time, and would love to see what makes Utah special.
“I’ve noticed in my own family that it just makes the world seem smaller,” said Manzione, whose family has also hosted through MWCE. “My kids are less judgmental about other cultures and other ways of life.”
Learn more about Mountain West Cultural Exchange at mwce.website.
