NEWS !! Reg White introduced Fran, Naomi, and Jesse who reported to the Club about INTERACT's recent activities. The INTERACT Club now has 75 members. Last year it raised $2,225 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation to Fight AIDS. The Club also participated in World Vision's Christmas Box program, filling 200 boxes. This year INTERACT intends to collect boxes again and Fran, Naomi, and Jesse asked for our support both the costs of shipping and with contributing Christmas boxes filled with small personal items. " Interact, a Rotary-sponsored service club for secondary school students, is based at Stratford Central Secondary School. The 35-member group, which has existed since May 1997, carries out numerous community, school, and international service projects. The Rotary liaison is Sharon Malvern (former principal at the school, who founded the Interact Club there), assisted by a committee. Staff advisers at the school are Marilyn Wadge ( since the beginning) and Anne Marie Kennedy (new). In 2001-2 they raised $450 for the American Red Cross after the terrorist attack on September 11 and hosted Sally Armstrong at an inter- school assembly on Afghanistan women. For several years now they have collected over 100 boxes for the Operation Christmas Child project each year, as well as packing boxes for the whole region at the Waterloo warehouse. They also assist other agencies - the Salvation Army, Optimism Place, Amnesty International, the St. John's Preschool, and the House of Blessing with various projects. The students helped the House of Blessing move to its new location, and are cleaning up the former space for community use. Interactors formed Focus Groups to assist the Career Development Committee in establishing a program to help high school students make informed decisions about careers. At the Rotary Conference in June 2002, they made all the centrepieces (45 in all) out of items that were donated to the agencies listed above afterwards; eg. toys, children's books, toiletries, cookware, camping items etc. The Interact Club went to Guatemala in 1998 with Missionary Ventures to help build a school. They would like to do a similar project this coming year. They have also spent weekends helping at the Daily Food Bank in Toronto, and feeding the homeless on the streets. They hope to help with an "aquabox" project that is being worked on by a Rotary International committee. Basically special plastic boxes filled with medicines, clothes, and supplies are sent to countries that have suffered disasters. Also in the box is a filter system, which means that the box converted into a device to purify water. They also helped with the Walkerton memorial garden. In the autumn of 2002, they again collected over 100 shoeboxes full of small necessities for the Operation Christmas Child project, as well as selling notecards to support sending children to school in Manila. Several of the Interactors were volunteers at the Stratford Book Festival in the children's program at Falstaff Family Centre. They were a big hit in their Storybook costumes. The group has recently "adopted" a child in a third world country, whom they are sponsoring. More details about this later. The group is very interested in the Rotary Respite House and hope to volunteer there. In February 2003 their Toonie Week fundraiser at Stratford Central raised $1679 for the Rotary Respite house- which will be used for a gazebo. They are also selling the Grace Culliton cards. This is a very energetic, active group of young people who believe in a hands-on approach to service. This year's plans include getting students from the other high schools involved, and getting together with Interact clubs in other communities. There has only been one other Interact club- in Goderich- in all of District 6330, which has 63 Rotary clubs in it. However at the District Conference, 3 other clubs told me they are trying to get Interact clubs started- and they were very interested in the presentation made by our Interactors. We hope to meet with them. The Interactors have their own identity: pins, shirts, emblem, policies, and projects. They earn money for their service commitments by assisting the Rotary club- selling T-shirts our Dragon Boat Festival, helping at the Gates (Fall Fair, Pork Congress), serving and cleaning up at our Rural/Urban dinner and so on. They get a cut-proportionate to the number who carry out these volunteer duties, and the Rotary club provides them with a line in the annual budget. As a Rotarian and a former educator, I believe the Interact club is an asset to the school, the sponsoring Rotary club, and the most of all, to the students themselves. They learn leadership, fundraising, and organizational skills- and the joy of helping others. A successful Interact program depends on a close relationship between the sponsoring club and the Interactors. Committee members can help in a variety of ways: transportation, helping plan events, helping the students carry out their projects, setting up volunteer schedules for Rotary events, chaperoning, etc. Most of the Interactors are under 16- so driving and supervision are necessities for the adults involved. Proposed Goals for 2003: 1. Fostering the relationship between the Rotary Club and the Interact Club. 2. Reviewing the Guidelines for Interact at the Club and Committee levels. 3. Involving Northwestern and St. Michael secondary schools in Interact. 4. Communicating and meeting with other Interact Clubs in the District, with the possibility of doing a joint service project. 5. Continuing the fine commitment to Service above Self demonstrated so ably in the past 5 years by Interact.