Rotaract Club: Buy a Brownie, Save a Puppy!
Bake sales that say “buy a brownie, save a puppy”, trips to animal shelters, clothing drive for homeless people… What is all of this about?
IE has so many clubs that we can often get lost on what does each of them do. Regarding volunteering, there is the Philanthropic Club, Charity Club and Rotaract Club. Today, I am bringing you an interview with Cecilia Rosen and Marc Ehrenborg, the current club leaders of Rotaract Club. What is the Rotaract Club exactly and why is it different?
What is the Rotaract Club?
Rotaract Club is a social service club that aims to make a local difference as well as fostering relationships amongst its members. It’s not IE exclusive, it’s a Segovia-based club, so any Segovian within our age range that is interested can join.
What is the difference between the Rotaract Club and any other charity club?
Rotaract Club acts at a local level but can also make joint efforts on a national and international level with other Rotaract Clubs around Spain or the world. The club aims to create relationships within the members and other Rotaract Clubs to develop a network.
How does it work? Is there a structure or organizational chart?
Rotaract is the young version of Rotary. Every country has a national leadership, local leadership and club leadership that is all under the international Rotary organization.
Rotary International is an international service organization with the purpose of bringing together business and professional leaders, in order to provide humanitarian service and advance goodwill and peace around the world. They are called Rotarians and they gather frequently to take the chance to develop friendships as an opportunity for service.
What have you done this year?
This year, we had fundraising activities for our organizations Adisil (Disability Association of San Idelfonso) and Animalejos (Animal Shelter). We are also implementing a Caritas container on the IE Campus for clothes donations. We will organize another trip to Animalejos to deliver them the raised funds from our bake sales in order to help them out at the shelter.
Which organisations do you help? On what basis do you choose these?
Right now, we are working with Adisil, Animalejos and Caritas. We chose these because we believe we can make a difference with them. They are all based in Segovia, which makes it possible for our members to visit them and help out at the spot. As well, they follow our line of supporting the local society.
Can anyone join? Is there specific timings, for only IE people, for example?
The club wants to have a small but very active member base. During the beginning of each year, there is a take-in period in combination with an event. People that show true engagement throughout the event are offered to join the club. However, it’s also possible to join after if there are open spots and you show a true involvement with the cause. As said before, it’s not IE exclusive, it’s a Segovia-based club so any Segovian within our age range could join.
How was your experience as leaders this year?
It was great. We had a strong start at the beginning of the year when visiting Animalejos, which drove up the awareness of the Rotaract Club. We were able to accomplish some great things this year and get help to document our events, in order to show future members what can be done so they can build on a great basis.
What do you think of the members of this year?
Without them, we could not have made all our events and fundraisers. They were really great and it’s amazing to see that so many people were interested in joining our cause.
Where should people contact you?
The best way to contact us is through our Social Media channels.
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/rotaractsegovia/
E-mail : rotaractsegovia@gmail.com