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 Service was in the spotlight recently as the Spring-Ford High School Interact Club and Spring-Ford Rotary Club joined together for their second annual dinner.
The Interact Club, a service group sponsored by the Rotary Club, formed at Spring-Ford in the 2005-06 school year as an informal Community Service Club. The group received its charter from Rotary International at last year’s dinner.
This year’s dinner, held at Spring-Ford Country Club, celebrated a year of growth and service for the young organization. According to adviser Melanie Volpe, the group began with only five or six students last year. Spring-Ford’s Interact Club now has nearly 60 members.
Rotarian Mike Connelly, the liaison between the two clubs, commented, “The club was a great addition to this area.” He commended the students’ involvement, both locally and internationally, as well as their intensity.
Addressing the students, he said, “Rotary stands for service above self, and it’s amazing to learn that at your age.”
“These are some of the best kids I’ve every worked with,” Volpe remarked. “They’ve embraced the philosophy of service above self.” The young people give of their time and energy to help others.
“They truly exemplify Rotary International’s slogan of lead the way,” Spring-Ford Rotary president Carl LaMastra declared.
Volpe noted RI requires each Interact Club to participate in at least one local and one international project each year. Spring-Ford’s club went way beyond that minimum.
Club president Shreya Malhotra reported that this year “showed what potential we have.” The club’s local projects included helping with games and candy distribution at Spring Valley YMCA’s Halloween activity, assisting at the Rotary Breakfast Buffet in March and participating in Limerick Community Day last September.
“Our fire really is when we do our international project and our fundraisers,” Malhotra added.
In November, the club held a spare change and food drive to benefit Open Door. The group also assembled care packages for U.S. troops in Iraq. Using a scavenger hunt format, the students collected more than 700 items for the packages.
On the international scene this year, the Spring-Ford Interact Club participated in a Rotary District project to fund a playground in a village for orphans in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Africa.
The cost of the playground is about $6,500, and the Rotary District asked each Interact Club to raise $650. Spring-Ford’s club raised the money through a charity raffle at the Spring-Ford Festival of the Arts in May. Businesses, including many Rotarians, donated items for the raffle. A lot of Interact members volunteered, Malhotra reported, and the event received a lot of public support.
The Interact Club will also adopt a child in the village. Spring-Ford students will keep in touch with these children via letters and donations such as books and toys.
Villages such as Dar es Salaam help children who have lost their parents from deadly causes such as AIDS. Children are housed there while being educated, until they are able to go out on their own.
Reflecting on the Interact Club’s accomplishments in 2006-07, Malhotra commented, “Hopefully next year will be the same way and we can make Interact go to great heights.”
At the conclusion of the dinner, club advisers Volpe and Julie Cardamone announced and pinned the officers for 2007-08, including Shreya Malhotra, president, and Meghan Beirne, vice president, both of whom served in the same offices in 2006-07; Marissa Cushing, secretary, and Mike Masciandaro, treasurer. In addition, members who joined the Interact Club this year received their pins.
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