Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well and you had a happy holiday. Last month, we had an incredible success; we sent our first-ever shipment of mobility devices to Mexico. It was amazing that even with restrictions due to COVID, we can still come together as a community and provide the devices for people who need them. The Interact Ambassador team applications also closed, and the applicants will be interviewed for a spot on the teams that will go to Kenya and Mexico. Once accepted, they will begin an intensive training program with their ambassador team to prepare for their trip. Lessons include language and culture and how to modify mobility devices to support the needs of the people receiving them. If you would like to donate to the Interact District Service Projects Fund, contributions can be sent to Interact District Treasurer Jeanie Morgan, Rotary District 5495, P.O. Box 1807, Chandler, AZ 85224. If you would like your donation to be tax-deductible, your check should be made payable to the Rotary District 5495 Charitable Fund, noting on it “for Interact C4A.” We are super excited that we can still serve and continue to have successful projects.
The Interact District Conference Planning Committee has begun planning for our conference in February, and everyone is excited to be taking part in it. A large component of our conference is a service project, usually packing and loading mobility devices. Last year the majority of our conference was a variety of service projects, and it helps to bring Interactors together and get people excited about service. Even though we cannot do our regular service projects this year, we are still thinking about projects that Interactors could do together virtually. We hope our upcoming conference can function as an introduction to Interact and Rotary Youth Services and a crash course in running and growing an effective Interact club. We are planning speakers who can share their Rotary and Interact stories and are planning breakout sessions with a heavy emphasis on problem-solving within the club. Even though the conference cannot be in person, we want to maintain the inspiration and motivation that is felt at all of our other district conferences. The conference will be on February 20th and is free to register; you can register on our website at rotaryazinteract.org.
If you would like to connect with your Interact clubs, we can connect you with the club and the Assistant Governor assigned to the club. You can always contact me at ashtonkling34@gmail.com or Art at arthts@msn.com. You can also see some of the amazing things that our Interact clubs are doing by going to our official Instagram page, interactaz5495. Don’t forget that Interact is the start of the chain that leads all the way to Rotary.
Thank you, and stay safe!