Shortly after I joined the Club in February 2012, President at the time, Linda Vomaske asked if I would be interested in being the Chair of the Interact Committee. I was looking for ways to get involved with the Club and always enjoy a challenge so I accepted Linda’s request. Unfortunately for me I had no idea where to start as there were no active Interact Clubs in Fort Collins at the time.
However, a few months after approaching some different ways to possibly get a club up & running, I received some very welcome news. Jimmy Haldermann, a freshman at Rocky Mountain High School and grandson of a former District Governor, had assembled a group of about 15 kids who wanted to start up a new Interact Club and all they needed was a liaison. I contacted Jimmy and told him that I would love to help them out in any way possible.
Since I have first met with Jimmy and his group they continue to amaze me with the efficiency at which they operate. Some of the projects they have completed in their first year include:
- Making blankets & quilts for kids at Children’s Hospital in Denver
- Completing a cookie dough fundraiser which raised over $715.00 for KidsPack in Loveland to provide meals to underprivileged kids in the Thompson Valley School District
- Collected donations to put together a care package for a troop overseas in Afghanistan
The Rocky Mountain High School group is incredible in how quickly they decide on a project, work on a project and them complete the project. I have learned that the reason they are able to accomplish their projects in such a quick manner is that they don’t spend much time on the front end organizing their plans but rather organize on the fly during the project by text messaging each other.
Since starting up this Interact Club, Jimmy has been increasing his involvement in Rotary & Rotary programs. He recently returned from this year’s RYLA event where he served as a youth counselor and this coming school year he will participate in the Rotary Youth Exchange program as he heads to Chile for a year.
While I was more than excited to get one Interact Club up and running, about a year later I was approached by one of our members, Vince Lubenow, who wanted to let me know that his granddaughter Sammi was interested in starting up another Interact Club at Fort Collins High School. Sammi, had just returned from RYLA and was eager to become more involved with Rotary and decided to start up a new Interact Club. So very similar to Jimmy, I contacted her and attended one of their meetings telling them what all I needed from them.
Their group is about the same size but instead of focusing on fundraising activities their group’s focus has primarily been in volunteering their time around the community. Some of the ways they have helped out are:
- Volunteering on weekends at the Food Bank of Larimer County
- Providing babysitting services for the Fort Collins Breakfast Rotary Club at their Pass the Gavel party.
Most of all what I have learned in my short time with both of these Interact Clubs is that their generation shares many of the same ideals & values that Rotary stands for, most notably Service Above Self.
If any of you know or have a student at one of the 4 Fort Collins high schools I would encourage you to talk to them about getting involved with Rotary thru Interact. I would be more than happy to talk with them about it.
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