Sponsored by RC Oakville Trafalgar
The Interact Club of Abbey Park High School, sponsored by the Rotary Club Oakville Trafalgar (RCOT), was officially inducted on November 23, 2023. This provides them an association with the world-wide Interact Club, part of Rotary International.
By sponsoring Interact clubs, Rotary clubs energize and inspire young leaders ages 12 to18 by helping to establish and support Interact clubs and encouraging them to become responsible community and global citizens through service to others.
On Thursday November 23rd the Certificate of Membership was presented to the Interact Club’s co-presidents Shivaani Sundralingam and Sami Gupta, by RCOT President Lauri Asikainen, RCOT Youth Service Committee Liliana Chocarro, and Rotary District Governor Brenda Halloran.
District Governor Halloran engaged all students asking them why they wanted to be Interactors and shared her own story about how, as Mayor of Waterloo, she decided to become a Rotarian after attending their events. Following inspiring words from Lauri and Brenda all members of the new club proudly accepted their Interact pins.
In addition to many of the Interact Club members’ classmates, the event was attended by Uche Okugo, District Youth Chair and co-Presidents of the Oakville Trafalgar High School Lillian Renton and Daria Ninos.
RCOT visited Abbey Park a week after the ceremony to give a presentation on Interact as part of a global family and on December 7th to bring ten birdhouses and ten kits as a donation to the Interact club. They plan to sell them and donate the proceeds to a long-term care facility in Oakville (Ian Anderson House).
President Lauri and Youth Service Chair Liliana attended the Interact meeting where co-presidents Shivaani and Sami presented the project to their members and assigned roles and responsibilities to execute the project in a timely manner and donate the funds before Christmas.
The Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar is proud to play a role in establishing and supporting Interact, which brings together young people and helps them to develop their leadership skills while discovering the power of Service Above Self.
Submitted by Dana Atwell
Rotary Club of Oakville Trafalgar