While Up with People will bring the world, figuratively speaking, to Auburn in September for its performance of Voices, the non-profit wants to introduce its cast to as many people in south King County as possible.

To that end they seek host families throughout the area including Covington, Maple Valley and Black Diamond, volunteer opportunities in the region as well as chances to work with middle schools on an anti-bullying program Up with People has to offer.

With the cast set to spend a week in south King County in mid-September, a trio of volunteers from Up with People are in town now working to set up volunteering, connect with potential host families as well as school districts. There are about 100 cast members, explained Lorna Murphy Durran, a promotions manager for the non-profit which was founded in 1965. While the performers are in the area, Durran explained, they will perform about 1,000 hours of community service.

Durran added that Up with People began in the 1960s as an organization which was based on music, a single song in fact, that brought a message of hope and peace. Over the years it evolved into a service-based organization and in 2005 it restructured significantly. Now it is an opportunity for students to travel, earn college credit, perform service and learn about other cultures.

Durran, who is Irish, is in the community now along with two other Up with People volunteers: intern and cast member Brenda Lopez who is from Mexico along with promotion representative Gary Guisset, who is from Belgium and previously traveled with the non-profit as a performer.

The show, which is set for Sept. 20-21 at Auburn Performing Arts Center, offers something for everyone, Guisset said.

“We have music that everybody knows,” Guisset said. “We also have our own songs. The whole show is based on a message. We try to incorporate messages of hope. We have songs from Europe, Africa, Asia, so everybody can see a little bit of the world on stage.”

There are 20 different nationalities represented in the cast this year, Guisset said, which gives the performers a chance to see a wide variety of viewpoints. Interactions with the other performers coupled with the opportunity to stay with a wide variety of people all over the world gives everyone a whole new perspective.

“We go to a different community every week,” Durran said. “We stay with local host families for cultural immersion. We learn more about cultures and we bring our culture to them. It’s like bringing the world together.”

A major focus right now as the trio prepares for the cast to arrive for the Auburn performances — which are sponsored by Rotary International, specifically five clubs in the area including Covington Rotary — is finding host families. Durran, Lopez and Guisset spoke to the Covington Rotary chapter Aug. 9 about Up with People as part of their preparation for the arrival of the cast.

Lopez said the cast members need a place to sleep, that is the most important thing host families can provide. Durran noted that they are not picky — a bathtub, a pillow and blanket would work in a pinch.

In addition, Lopez said, host families are asked to provide breakfast, some dinners as well as transportation to and from Auburn during the week the performers stay with them.

“We love staying with families that have teenagers,” Durran said. “It’s a nice opportunity for us to be with people our age and introduce the program to future cast members. We’re not there during the day, we’re busy all day doing community service, working with the schools and performing.”

Staying with host families with teens is also an opportunity to connect with potential cast members, Durran said. There are currently 20 Americans in the cast, which starts its tour in the United States and will travel to two other regions of the world.

This week, Durran said, they will be out in the community continuing to introduce themselves. For example, the three volunteers will be at the grand opening festivities Thursday and Saturday for Valley Medical Center’s Covington Community Clinic South. They will be doing face painting, particularly Saturday as that event has a family focus, flags from around the world.

They also plan to go to the back to school barbecue Aug. 24 at Real Life Church in Covington where volunteers from the Storehouse will help families in need with school supplies, clothes and hair cuts, plus food and fun for the family. In addition, they will help Rotarians fill bags as part of the Covington chapter’s Backpack Buddies program, which provides backpacks full of food to students in need at several schools in the city. Durran said they also plan to partner with Habitat for Humanity and will work on another project in Covington.

Details on the middle school anti-bullying program are still being hammered out but the plan is to try and spend two days in local schools in September.

Members of the cast range in age from 16 to 29 years old, Durran said. They can get up to 12 credits thanks to a partnership with Florida Southern College. But, more than anything, the travel, working with people from all over the world and the exposure to different cultures through staying with host families is just as significant as the credits.

“Personal growth is huge for our organization,” Durran said. “And creating global citizens — that’s something we really focus on. Yes, we’re all diverse, but why?”

In the end, Up with People hopes to not just bring the world to south King County, but to bring it together through service, music, and travel.