For those of you who don't know about Rotaract or Interact, let me tell you a little about these clubs. The simplest way to describe them is to say that they are Rotary Clubs for young people. There are of course some important differences, but the main point is that these clubs are the means by which young people can be introduced to community service work and form at an early age their own concepts of "service above self". Once they become professional or business people they are then primed and ready to become full fledged Rotarians.
These young people are virtually always high school students so Interact Clubs tend to be school based clubs, meeting after school hours or during the day such as noon hour. Fifteen people are needed to charter a Club so organizers target about double that number in the early stages of recruiting. Interactors meet every two weeks and take on at least two community projects for the year. One project should be in their own community and the other should be aimed at furthering international understanding.
The name "Interact", has nothing to do with computer hook-ups or banking services, but comes from the words "International Action".
Every Interact Club has a sponsoring Rotary Club although it is possible that two Rotary Clubs might combine their resources to sponsor one or more Interact Clubs. Once formed, the Interact Club elects an executive which in turn makes sure a new executive is in place at the end of their term to keep the Club going. Under the watchful eye of their Rotary sponsors, the Club sets it goals and projects, adopts the Interact constitution, and adopts or modifies an appropriate set of by-laws. They should be financially self-supporting but might initially require help from the sponsoring club. Given the nature of high school extra-curricular activity and the number of competing priorities in your average school, it is extremely helpful , if not mandatory, to have a Rotary member in the school as a teacher or principal. This can be a big help with logistical issues.
