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Rotaract
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From: A Century of Service – The Story of Rotary International
written by David C Forward, published in 2003 by Rotary International
Chapter 15, Rotary's Commitment to Youth, page 175
Rotaract
As Interact grew in popularity, Rotarians noticed a gap in the chain of service. Interact covered high school students and Rotary club membership was available to business leaders, but what about the young adults in between? Rotary’s answer was Rotaract, which began in 1968 in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. Rotaract is not a youth program. It is designed for young adults ages 18-30 who want to serve the community and the needy, are committed to high ethical standards, and seek fellowship with those of like mind, but do not yet qualify for membership in a Rotary club. Most of Rotaract’s growth occurred outside North America in community-based clubs; today, more than 170,000 Rotaractors meet and serve their communities in 7,500 clubs in more than 155 countries and geographic regions.
While Rotary inspired the birth of Interact and Rotaract, young people themselves inspired their Rotarian sponsors. Members of the Interact club of Trelew, Argentina, organized a milk bank, where orphaned and abandoned children received bread and milk each afternoon – often their only meal of the day. Thai Interactors acted as tutors at an elementary school; their peers in Brazil vaccinated stray dogs against rabies; Kenyan Interactors donated blood and helped maintain a home for disabled children; and the Interact Club of Hakodate, Japan, raiswd money to support international projects in Africa and India. Rotaractors helped rebuild homes for the elderly in Britain and worked with the disabled in Australia. In Italy, Rotaractors
collected enough money to purchase polio vaccine for tens of thousands of
children in the Philippines.
Chapter 15, Rotary’s Commitment to Youth, page 177
"It is easy to see why Rotary has made such a commitment to youth for most of its first 100 years. It reaches out to care for children who are sick, disabled, hungry, or forgotten. It provides encouragement through mentoring and scholarships to tens of thousands of teenagers and young adults. And it walks hand in hand along the pathway of service with youth in Interact and Youth Exchange and young adults in Rotaract. Rotarians have lived out their slogan of more than 50 years: Every Rotarian is an example to Youth. They have demonstrated that the best investment of their time and resources is in the generation that will lead the world tomorrow."
Chapter 20, Polio Plus: Rotary’s Finest Hour, page 240
(1988) "In Holland the Rotaract clubs of Heemestede and Hillegom-Lisse built an amphibious cycle that could be propelled through the water by 36 people, four across and nine deep. The young adults pedalled
their way through Holland, Belgium, France, and across the English Channel to
England - raising $210,000 for Polio Plus."
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From the book: A Century of Service – The story of Rotary International, written by David C Forward, published in 2003 by Rotary International
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