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National Council for International Visitors toasts Columbia hospitality at wine tasting event
Jim Byrum, Patti Sudendorf, Brucie Alexander
October 19, 2007
By Rachel Haynie
Wine, a symbol of hospitality, brought together global-minded Columbians recently for a fundraiser to benefit Palmetto Council for International Visitors. The non-profit organization supports local programming for international dignitaries and other leaders who visit Columbia via sponsorship by the US State Department.
PCIV, sharing headquarters with the World Affairs Council office on Devine Street in Columbia, is part of a national network of program agencies and community-based organizations that designs and implements professional programming, cultural activities, and local hospitality opportunities for foreign leaders, specialists, and international scholars. PCIV also is affiliated with Columbia Council for Internationals, another non-profit organization, that has welcomed university students since 1965.
The fundraiser, held at WineStyles on Garners Ferry Road, will help defray PCIV’s cost of hosting international visitors to Columbia so they can experience legendary Southern hospitality.
Patti Sudendorf, who coordinates international leaders’ visits to South Carolina, said several groups are expected in the near future. “One group is interested in our governmental structure; another is interested in our higher education, and there are always business and professional specialists coming to Columbia.”
Colin Powell has called those who participate in the National Council for International Visitors, of which PVIC is a part, citizen diplomats. The former US Secretary of State said they “bring world issues home to the American people in the most direct way possible.”
Among the citizen diplomats at the wine tasting were: Margaret Perkins, who works with Rhodes, Fulbright, Marshall and other international fellowship and scholar programs at the University of South Carolina; Terry Goodfellow is with USC’s English Programs for Internationals program; Jim Byrum is president of Columbia Council for Internationals, Patti Sudendorf is PCIV director; and Brucie Alexander is League of Women Voters’s board member and is active in international organizations.
