Introducing Friendship Force

Friendship Force International (FFI) is an international nonprofit organization founded by Wayne Smith with the support of then President Jimmy Carter. The organization was introduced on March 1, 1977 at a meeting of state governors in the White House.

The purpose of the organization is to create an environment where personal friendships can be established across the international barriers that separate people. Friendship Force achieves its goals through the travel of goodwill ambassadors to destinations throughout the world and international home-stays. In each city, the ambassadors share the lives of their host families for one week.

Today there are 350 clubs active in more than 60 countries throughout the world. For many years the headquarters of Friendship Force International was in Atlanta, Georgia. Because of the Covid pandemic, that physical office was closed, and a “virtual” office was formed.

Whether you're planting a community garden in Jamaica, practicing Spanish in Colombia, or cycling with locals in Germany, every personal friendship you create when you travel plays a small part in building a more peaceful world.

Multiply that effect by 16,000 - that's the number of people around the world already committed to peace through friendship. They are the Friendship Force.

With volunteers on the ground in 63 countries, our programs bring these diverse people together, into one another's cultures and even homes, to share one-of-a-kind experiences not available to regular tourists.

Through these exciting personal encounters, strangers become friends - and if we can build a world of friends, we can build a world of peace.

Our members are ordinary people just like you, who travel or host in the name of global friendship.

Become an ambassador of the Friendship Force today. The Friendship Force is a worldwide non-profit organization which promotes friendship and understanding by bringing people from all over the world together. Our motto is "A World of Friends is a World of Peace." Founded in 1977, it is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The club is non-political and has no religious affiliations. It is not a travel club, but rather, an organization which promotes international friendship and understanding. There are over 300 clubs worldwide.
                                   

Explore your world. Understand its people. Serve the cause of peace.

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