Ladner Interact Club productive and growing

Posted by Peter Roaf

on Nov 17, 2015

Interact is a club for young people ages 12-18 who want to join together to tackle the issues in their community that they care most about.

On Easter weekend this year five members of Ladner's Interact Club attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards event at Camp Elphinstone on the Sunshine Coast, where they made friends for lifetime and learned about leadership

Through Interact, members carry out hands-on service projects, make international connections, develop leadership skills and have fun.

There are 30 members in Ladner's Interact Club at Delta Secondary School, up from 21 last year. The club is one among 23 in Rotary District 5040 which includes the Lower Mainland and the western half of mainland BC. For achievement in its work to Light Up Rotary, Rotary District 5040 recognized the Delta Secondary School Interact Club in Ladner with the 2014-15 Presidential Citation.

Brittany Salikin (left), one of the presenters, made good friends at the RYLA camp this past Spring

Rebecca Spencer (left) and Ladner Interact Club President Tessa Hansen tell Ladner Rotarians about the many activities of their club throughout the year

Every year the Ladner Interact club carries out service projects, to help the school or community and promote international understanding.

Some examples of Ladner Interact Club service are:

In November fellow students were asked what they would like to remember on Remembrance Day and those students wrote on poppies posted in the foyer for everyone to read
In December a lunchtime Christmas bake sale in the school foyer with proceeds to filling “shoe box presents” for lower income families in our community
Also in December, partnered with Port Metro Vancouver’s local office to run a gift wrapping service with almost $1000 in proceeds to the Delta Life Skills Society summer camp for kids with disabilities
In February the Valentine’s Day bake sale raised almost $150 for the Third World Eye Care Society
In March partnered with the Third World Eye Care Society, collecting almost 20 pairs of glasses for people in Tabloban, Philippines
In May sent a member to Rotary Adventures in Citizenships in Ottawa
Also in May hosted yoga in the the park with herbal tea samples to raise awareness for mental health
In June sold Krispy Kreme Doughnuts during a school lunch hour with proceeds to a student with a serious illness

Interact Club President Tessa Hansen (far right) joined many other Interactors from across Canada in Ottawa for Adventures in Citizenship last May

Past President Patricia Sibley (left) and New Generations Chair Tammy Hansen (right) flank the three Interactor presenters

The Interact Club of Hugh Boyd Secondary School in Richmond captures some aspects of Interact with their internationally award-winning video in 2014.