EVERY year, World Rotaract Week honors the chartering of the first Rotaract Club in North Carolina, USA, on 13 March 1968. Rotaract was officially inaugurated during January 1968 under Rotary International (RI) President Luther Hodges. World Rotaract Week, observed annually the week of 13 March, is designed to foster Rotaract-Rotary activities in celebration of the founding of the Rotaract programme.
What is Rotaract?
Rotaract is a Rotary sponsored service club for young men and women between the ages of 18 and 30. Rotaract is a way for young adults, who may not be ready or eligible for Rotary membership, to become involved in the Rotary family and contribute to their communities and world, in keeping with Rotary ideals, through Service above self.
Rotaract helps members with leadership skills, career development, community and international service and the development of good friends and fellowship. Rotaract is often described as being like Rotary, but with more opportunities for fellowship. Most clubs hold two meetings per month, with one as a business meeting and the other as a social event. The club also meets as needed for their service projects and events.
In Saint Lucia, while Rotaractors are currently planning a series of activities to mark the occasion of World Rotaract Week, The Rotary Club of Gros Islet is in the final stages of reintroducing Rotaract to the north of the island, through an invigorated new Rotaract Club of Gros Islet.
The project is led by The Rotary Club of Gros Islet under New Generations Chairman and a former Rotaractor Joseph Dolor. A group of young enterprising professionals who work and reside in the north of the island have responded affirmatively to the call to serve their peers and wider community.
Over the last few months, these young people have dedicated themselves to service through a series of information meetings geared to equipping them with the requisite skills for Rotaract membership. They have received specific information on the roles, functions and operational procedures of Rotaract. Since then, the prospective club members have elected an interim executive, charged with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the club.
Through President Elect Liam Obieus, the executive has adopted the Rotaract bylaws as set out by Rotary International and the necessary registration documentation has been submitted to Rotary International for ratification and approval.
As Sponsor club, the Rotary Club of Gros Islet is very proud of the young people who have responded to this call and who are very excited and eager to commence working in their community. This Rotary-Rotaract partnership will result in tremendous benefits for the community of Rotary and for the Saint Lucians whose lives will be touched and changed by this dynamic group of young people.
A number of community development projects are already in advanced planning stages and will be executed over the coming months, once the club is officially chartered. These include partnering and working with the wards at the Boys Training Centre, Working with Grow Well and the Gros Islet Town Library, and beach clean-up campaigns throughout the community.
Club members meet Wednesdays at 5:30pm at the offices of Pan American Life Insurance Company of The Eastern Caribbean Ltd at Rodney Bay, proud sponsors of Rotary work in Saint Lucia.