brandywine valley chapter history
Bring children together before
adolescence so they can learn to be friends before prejudices
are so deep!
1946
Doris Allen, 45, sat on a park bench in New York City after
World War II and pondered what it would take to ensure survival
of the human race. She became convinced that, among other
requisites, it was necessary for children before adolescence to
make friends with children of many countries around the world.
In that year, Dr. Allen started a non-profit, non-political
volunteer organization that would bring pre-adolescent children
together from many different cultures to share their
similarities and celebrate their differences. She called
it Children’s International Summer Villages or CISV. The
first peace camp or “village” was home to 55 children from nine
different countries. They worked together and played
together for a month. Since that first village, many countries
have joined the United States to produce a worldwide CISV
family.
1987-1993 A teenage boy helps his teacher move some
office equipment when she asks him, “How would you like to go to
Austria this summer?” The teacher was Heidi Fischer, president
of the Philadelphia chapter. She knew her chapter was looking
for a Village junior counselor, and she thought Graham Hudgings
was the perfect candidate. The next year, a classmate of
Graham’s became a JC representing the Philadelphia Chapter.
Margaret and Jim Hudgings had served as host parents for many
international students who attended Westtown School, a Quaker
day and boarding school not far from Philadelphia, in the valley
of the Brandywine River. They were so impressed by their son’s
CISV experience that they volunteered to coordinate the
Philadelphia Chapter’s Interchange program. They began a
two-year Interchange with Norway in 1988. Margaret and Jim
Hudgings, Woody Lathbury, Dee Noland, Faith D’Urbano and Nancy
and Chuck Wilson, all of who had children who had traveled with
the Philadelphia Chapter, obtained Steering Committee status for
the Brandywine Valley Chapter. A village delegation was sent to
Sweden in 1991. In 1993, Brandywine Valley hosted its first
Village on the beautiful campus of the Williamson Trade School
in Middletown, PA. Brandywine Valley obtained official USA
chapter status.
Currently
The Brandywine Valley
Chapter is one of 22 chapters in the United States. There are
over 60 countries worldwide who have CISV chapters. Since 1991,
over 400 local children have participated in CISV programs. We
have a very active Junior Branch (ages 11-25) of former and
potential delegates. Monthly
meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month and all are
welcome.
For more information
about the Brandywine Valley, PA area
click here.
