Members of the W.L. Seaton Secondary School Rotary Interact Club have been hard at work this year supporting initiatives both at home and abroad.
On March 15, the club, led by president Roweena Dunlop and supervised by Kalamalka Rotarians Andy Erickson and Jim Ferguson, presented a cheque for $1,500 to Patti Lefkos, president of local non-profit society Nepal One Day at a Time.
“The funds will be used to purchase library books for Devi Jal Kumari School in Aprik Village in the Gorkha area of Nepal,” said Lefkos. “The school and entire village were destroyed in the April, 2015 earthquake.”
Kalamalka Rotary and Nepal One Day at a Time are collaborating with Nepal NGO Sambhav Nepal to rebuild the school. Kalamalka Rotarians Mary Jackson and Lefkos, along with Lefkos’ husband Barry Hodgins, leave for Nepal in early April to visit Aprik Village and open the first four classrooms.
Rotary Interact Clubs bring together young people ages 12 to 18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of the Rotary motto, Service Above Self. True to the motto, the 15 members of Seaton Interact have developed several ongoing projects.
Members have collected and donated approximately 500 non-perishable food items to the food bank with their annual Halloween Catching Cans drive and have provided $700 to purchase a year’s worth of recyclable paper plates for the school’s breakfast program.
They conduct an ongoing recycling program for the entire school and operate the coat check at Kalamalka Rotary’s annual Dream Auction.
Hungry kids are also part of their agenda. The club has donated $2,000 to Seaton’s Food for Thought student food bank and also support the Vernon Starfish backpack program with $550, enough to provide a weekend backpack of food for one elementary student for an entire school year.
Future plans include creating a composting program for the school and creating windowsills gardens in the school foods room.
The club next hosts its annual Sonic Sound Fest May 17, an event that promotes substance free fun and showcases the musical talents of local high school students and alumni. Vernon alternative band //AMISTAD// is expected to be one of the performers.
To help build the next four classrooms in Nepal, donations can be sent to Nepal One Day at a Time, Box 3093, Silver Star Mountain, Vernon, B.C., V1B 3M1.