Better together 

This year our club has given a significant shift. We approached youth services more cohesively and inclusively! In February, our rotary family was fully integrated into two important events: 

Our largest fundraiser of the year, the Chili Mac N Cheese Cook-Off, raised 20k for local and international services projects, and we also executed one of our three district grants: Pantry Buddies. This project ensures children struggling with food insecurity have food on the weekends and over holiday breaks. 

In both events, we all collaborated! Rotarians from the main and satellite club, Interactors, and high student students from four schools. Our Interact Club includes alumni from RYLA, and we are proud to have a future Rotary Youth Exchange Student in the club too! 

Just five months since the chartering of the community-based Interact club, it has been an incredible asset for our Rotary Club and community. Up until this time, all of our 40 other Interact clubs in District 6840 - southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi - have been campus-based. However, the Rotary Club of Bay St Louis has become a pioneer in our district by “thinking outside the box” and forming a community-based Interact club, which we feel will best fit our community. 

The students have not just shown tremendous collaboration between schools and age groups, contributing to creating a positive culture of peace; likewise, the relationship with the sponsor rotary club and its members has been fantastic. 

Effective Intergenerational collaboration has been one of the more remarkable successes this Rotary year!