Invitation: Rotacamp Conference
To the Interact Alumni of Northern California,
I hope your years as an Interactor were as rewarding as mine were. As you prepare for the next chapter after high school, I invite you to join me at the first ever RotaCamp Conference at San Jose State University. This program is a one-day crash course on the transition to college and how Rotaract can complement college. Some of you have had the opportunity to experience Rotaract through programs like CBRS, YSD, and IWRD. Regardless of what school you plan to attend next fall, I hope you will attend to get an in depth look at what Rotaract has to offer.
Taylor Lee
District 5160 Rotaract Governor, 2017-18
When: Friday July 6
Where: San Jose State University
Cost: $10 (some Rotary Clubs & Districts, including 5150, will sponsor your attendance!)
Registration form: https://tinyurl.com/RotaCamp5170-Reg
RotaCamp Conference is a new collaboration led Silicon Valley Rotaract with support from the campus Rotaract Clubs of Districts 5160 and 5170.
Interact Clubs Around the State: California High School Interact Club
Welcome to Interact Clubs Around the State, a monthly column highlighting a different Interact Club in California! Use this column to get ideas for your own Interact Club, form partnerships with Interact Clubs working on projects that your club would like to be a part of, and contact other clubs to share information. If you need any help contacting a club, please contact me through the means listed below the article and I would be happy to set up communication!
Background
This month’s Interact Club spotlight is California High School (Cal High) Interact Club in San Ramon, California, sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Ramon. It is an active club in Interact District 5160 (spanning from the East Bay Area all the way up to the northern border of California ). In the past academic year, they have donated over 1700 service hours as club and have approximately 150 active members. They perform a variety of service projects, donation drives, and work countless events in their local community.
Largest Service Projects and Accomplishments
- Art and Wind Festival Fundraising Booth
- Partnered with a local restaurant, the club organizes and hosts a food booth at the city’s annual Art and Wind Festival. The club caters with a local vendor to sell Chinese food to festival goers.
- This is the club’s largest fundraiser of the year. All proceeds go toward the club’s fundraising project/organization for the year.
- This year, the club raised a total of more than $3200.
- Contra Costa County Community Food Drive
- The club partners with the Contra Costa County Food Bank to host a community wide food drive. This is a great project to help the food bank during times of the year when stocks are low! The Interact Club prepares fliers and brown bags (provided by the food bank) for distribution.
- In joint services between Rotarians and Interactors, the clubs distribute the bags to the doorsteps of the entire community. The following week, bags left on the curbside with donations are collected by the club and delivered to the food bank.
- On average, the club efforts from the drive produced more than one thousand pounds of canned food donations sent to the community food bank.
- Sunny Glen Smoke Alarm Project
- Another project that the Interact Club partners with their sponsoring Rotary Club is the Smoke Alarm Project. Groups of Interactors accompany Rotarians as they replace batteries or install alarms in a senior community.
- Rotary Christmas Tree Lot
- To get in the holiday spirit, Rotarians and Interactors work together to sell fresh smelling Christmas Trees.
- At the Christmas Tree Lot, Interactors also host an arts and craft booth for young kids, collecting monetary donations in tips and holiday snack sales!
- Other Annual Projects
- Mid-Year Rotary Luncheon
- Cal High Interact hosts one Rotary meeting at their high school campus annually in January to update their sponsoring clubs on their projects.
- Senior Center Gift Wrapping
- As explanatory from the project name, the club hosts a free gift wrapping station for seniors at a local senior home. The club takes voluntary donations for their services and supplies.
- Rise Against Hunger
- Working alongside local Rotarians, Interactors and Rotarians alike work to package meal sets to ship to third world countries!
- Mid-Year Rotary Luncheon
Club Affairs
- End of Year Transition Celebration
- The outgoing and incoming officer board holds an informal transition meeting, usually hosted by a Rotarian at the end of the year.
- This meeting is crucial to allow for a smooth transition in duties and responsibilities between boards.
- Interact Officer Alumni are sometimes invited to the meeting to provide their input and guidance for incoming officers.
- The outgoing and incoming officer board holds an informal transition meeting, usually hosted by a Rotarian at the end of the year.
- Written Membership Policies
- Cal High Interact has a hard service hour requirement for its members- additionally the club has an incentive system in place to motivate members to engage in service.
- Members receive an official certificate of membership to commemorate their membership to the club per year.
- Based on number of hours performed, members can also be eligible for membership benefits and awards such as Rotary luncheons, Cal High Interact lanyards, club T-shirts and apparel, hats, etc.
- Cal High Interact has a hard service hour requirement for its members- additionally the club has an incentive system in place to motivate members to engage in service.
Cal High Interact is a great club to be involved with and they are always looking to partner with other Interact Clubs and share information. You can contact their rising club President, Shannon Lee at [email protected].
Learn more about their projects and organization here: https://www.calhighinteract.org/
If you want to spotlight your club in the next newsletter article, please contact Alexa Tisopulos:
Facebook: Alexa Tisopulos
Email: [email protected]