The family of Don Goodfellow and the late Eula Mae Goodfellow has contributed to an endowment that supports international travel for Kansas youth. | Download this photo.
Kansas family creates endowment to support international travel for youth
Fund honors the legacy of former Lyons resident Eula Mae Goodfellow
Nov. 30, 2022
By Pat Melgares, K-State Research and Extension news service
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The family of the late Eula Mae Goodfellow of Lyons, Kan. has donated toward an endowment that will support opportunities for Kansas youth to travel internationally, honoring one of Eula Mae’s passions during her life.
Emily Page, the vice president for the Kansas International 4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE), said the Goodfellow family gift will jump start a partnership between IFYE and the Kansas 4-H Foundation to create a $25,000 endowed scholarship fund for youth interested in international travel through 4-H programs.
“Eula Mae was a beloved member of the IFYE family and a shining example of how international travel can be life changing,” said Dana Hinshaw, treasurer of the Kansas IFYE Association.
According to the IFYE Association of the USA, IFYE was founded after World War II as young Americans perceived the need for greater international understanding and cooperation. Youth in the U.S. live and work with host families in another country, while youth from abroad come to the United States to live with host families for an equal amount of time.
The program was originally known as the International Farm Youth Exchange.
“The youth participant and the host family learn about each other’s culture by participating in the host family’s daily life, promoting ‘peace through understanding,’” Page said.
She added that 2023 will mark the 75th year of IFYE exchange trips. “More than 4,000 Americans have lived in 116 countries, while a similar number of young people from those nations have come to the United States,” she said.
Eula Mae Goodfellow was one of those, having participated in an exchange trip to Belgium in 1955 where she lived with four host families – two that spoke French and two that spoke Flemish.
“One of her host families had milk cows, so she enjoyed bottle-feeding the calves and helping the host mother make butter and cheese,” said her husband Don Goodfellow, who remembers letters from Eula Mae in which she described her experience. “She never complained about her harsh living conditions and always had something positive to say.”
The couple’s story began just prior to Eula Mae’s IFYE experience; Don proposed to her two weeks before she left for Belgium, and prior to his own departure for a one-year commitment with the International Voluntary Service program in Iraq.
“All her life, Eula Mae was a travel enthusiast – planning many family vacations,” Don said. The couple attended numerous national and international IFYE conferences as well as mission trips, disaster relief cleanups, group tour vacations and motorcycle excursions.
“Eula Mae was an abundance of energy, never met a stranger, loved to travel and generously practiced hospitality,” Don said.
The family gift includes her surviving children: Daughters Kristen Higgens of Beatrice, Neb.; and Teresa (Joel) Miller of St. John, Kan.; as well as eight grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.
A fund has been established through the Kansas 4-H Foundation for those who would like to support the endowed scholarship. More information is available online at www.Kansas4HFoundation.org/give (reference ‘Kansas IFYE Association Endowment Fund #06-4925).
More information is also available by calling Jennifer Pfortmiller with the Kansas IFYE Association at 620-786-5845, or sending email to sjpfortmiller@hotmail.com.
