The Rotary Club was delighted to visit with the young leaders of the Medicine Hat High Interact club on Monday evening. Even if the visit had to be "virtual", it is always great to catch up with the students and find out what projects they have been involved with and what their plans for next year are.
The 2020-2021 President of the MH High Interact club is Ezekiel Salazar, who had each of the 8 other students introduce themselves and speak about why they joined the Interact club. The club had a total of 15 members this year, and with COVID restrictions had to split it's meetings into two separate times, to ensure social distancing. Even with those road blocks, they have done some amazing things.
Ezekiel began by thanking the Rotary Club and it's members for the work at the Sea-Can Garage Sale in September of 2020. That event, based on donations by Rotarians and the Interact students, raised $1,700 for the clubs activities. The Interact Club also did a poppy campaign in support of the Legion on Remembrance Day, and helped participate in Operation Christmas Child, organized through Hillcrest Church. They also did a number of Christmas cards to those staying at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital over the Christmas season.
The club also did a public campaign to thank essential workers, titled "#MHSaysThankYou". They encouraged schools to provide posters and cards that hung in many stores in the area. They got support from schools all over the region.
As well, they participated in the CFSEA - Youth in Philantrophy program, and donated $1,800 to the MH and District Food Bank.
Many of the students, including those in the executive will be back next year, and they are already looking at a list of potential projects for 2021-2022.
After the presentation, the students were congradulated by PE Terry Partis on the great work and a special thank you to VP Sue Withers, our faculty advisor for many years. Without that school based support, the Interact club would be virtually impossible to run. We really appreciate all her efforts. As well, PE Terry thanked Theresa Eisenbarth, the Rotary advisor to the Interact students who helps support their efforts and introduces them to all things Rotary. In this very odd year, meetings were difficult and her role tougher to perform and we thanked her for her work.
It's always an uplifting meeting and we were all amazed at the great work, during a tough year, done by the Interact students!