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Interact Club is a service club for youth aged 12 to 18, sponsored by Rotary clubs worldwide. Members engage in community service projects and develop leadership skills. Interact has over 10,000 clubs in 109 countries and celebrates World Interact Week annually. Other Rotary programs for youth include Youth Exchange, Rotaract, and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.
Interact Club is a service club for youth ages 12 to 18 and is part of Rotary International, the world’s first service club organization. The international parent organization is made up of over 30,000 clubs worldwide and boasts more than million business leaders and professionals as members. Individual Rotary clubs sponsor youth component, Interact clubs, providing guidance and support. The first Interact club was chartered in 1962.
Interact engages up to 200,000 youth through more than 10,000 clubs in 109 countries and geographic areas. Each club varies in the composition of its members. Some Interact clubs are single-sex; others are of mixed gender. An Interact club can derive its membership from a single school or combine students from more than one school in a particular community, and 10-year-olds can join if the school where the club is based accepts students of that age. The size of Interact club memberships also varies. Members are known as Interactors.
Interact clubs are self-sustaining and self-governing, although they receive direction and minimal financial support, if any, from the sponsor Rotary club. All Interact clubs sponsor a minimum of two community service projects a year. A project should support understanding of international goodwill. Another service project should benefit the local community or school. The club meets at least twice a month. Active members must maintain a 60% attendance record.
A sustaining Rotary club member serves as an adviser to the student organization and attends its meetings. The Rotarian adviser also serves as the liaison between the Interact club and the Rotary club. Funds for service projects are raised through club activities and may or may not be matched by minimum club dues.
The benefits of joining an Interact club include the opportunity to network with other members both locally and internationally. Members also have the opportunity to develop leadership skills, understand the importance of accountability, and promote international awareness. Other benefits include learning the importance of serving others, showing respect, and developing personal integrity.
Each year, during the week of November 5, Interact celebrates the club’s founding with World Interact Week. During this week, Interact and Rotary club members often plan joint projects. In a past World Interact Week project, a club in Uganda donated time and supplies to a local orphanage. Another Interact club in Colombia organized an AIDS awareness walk through their community.
Additional opportunities exist through Rotary International for youth in other programs. Rotary Youth Exchange is a program where students can spend up to a year in a foreign country living with local families and attending a local school. Rotaract provides opportunities for people ages 18 to 30 to provide services in their communities. And the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards are a training program for young people aged 14 to 30.
