The North Carolina 4-H program has a need, and there may be some folks in Mount Airy and Surry County who are qualified to fill the bill.

The 4-H program is seeking seven families that can host exchange students this summer from Japan.

The 4-H student exchange program is an excellent idea — it gives North Carolina teens a chance to travel to and live in other nations, gaining first-hand knowledge and understanding of life outside the United States.

It also offers host families in America the same opportunity, housing a student from another nation, learning about that teen’s country and its customs while showing off the best America has to offer.

Mount Airy and Surry County are often touted as among the friendliest communities anywhere, so what better place for a family or two, or three, to step forward and take on housing a student in the exchange program? We certainly cannot think of a better place, a community where so many people still strive to show basic, common decency to one another; a place where neighbor still helps neighbor; where families still often take care of their own.

Again, we ask, what better place for a young person to learn about the true, everyday core values of the typical American, than right here?

We hope there are a few families hereabouts who will step forward and volunteer for the program.