Topi Karikorpi from Finland stands with Dave Berg with the Petersburg Rotary Club. Photo/Angela Denning

A high school student from Finland has been spending the past year in Petersburg through the Rotary Club’s exchange program. KFSK’s Angela Denning has more:

Petersburg’s Rotary Club helped send Marissa Nilsen to Belgium this school year. She returns in July. Meanwhile, Topi Karikorpi from Finland has been living here in Petersburg since August of last year.

Topi is a Junior in high school. He talks with me about what it’s like back home in Finland and how things are different here in Petersburg. He’s here for about another month and he says his visit has been great so far.

Before Topi leaves in July he hopes to raise money for two shelter boxes. Shelter Box is an international program that gives away emergency supplies to families in need after a disaster. Each box includes a tent, cooking stove and utensils, a water purifier, a tool kit, and some warm clothing. Topi has raised over a thousand dollars for one box and is halfway to paying for a second one. That’s one of his final goals to reach before he leaves Petersburg on July 6.

For more information about the shelter boxes or to donate, you can call Dave Berg at 518-1199 or stop by Viking Travel where he works.