ON THE GROW
Sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words, below you’ll find two pictures and really after that you need very little information to understand that the Holley Interact Club is on a roll! On the left is the club at its charter three years ago. On the right - its current membership!!!!
Four years ago, Jessica Mandigo, then a high-school student in Holley, was selected by the Holley Rotary Club to attend Slapshot. The leadership experience got her on fire. Back in Holley, she along with several others started the Interact Club. Jessica has since graduated high school and recently became a Rotarian in the Holley Club!! Earlier this month the Interact Club made a presentation to their sponsoring Rotary Club: Holley.
In her presentation Megan Harrington, the co-president of the Interact Club, asked for the Rotary club’s participation in their next project, which is collecting hotel size soap, shampoo, etc. for local organizations that use them to help residents in shelters, etc. Megan also listed some of the group’s projects for the year, such as cleaning tombstones in the local cemetery, being lunchroom buddies for younger students in the elementary school, assisting with elementary holiday parties, assisting in the setup and cleanup of the Day of Shopping Christmas event, and a few more. A busy group.
After Megan’s presentation a motion was made by the Holley Rotary Club to provide the Interact Club with $100 to thank them for the great service provided during our recent dinner (14 volunteers!). They also donated $75 to their toiletry collection effort.
Megan is the granddaughter of former Rotarian Ed DeCarlo and Joan. She is also the daughter of Scott and Dione Harrington and the current host sister for Janne (exchange student). The DeCarlo’s were very active in our youth exchange program for many years, so Dione is very familiar with the program. Megan did tell me during dinner that her father, Scott, does plan on joining the club. Unfortunately, on the day of our meeting he cut his hand on some broken glass as he was cleaning a glass drinking container used by Janne. We hope to see Scott soon.
Cool Takeaway: One of the key ingredients in growing the club was through the Rotary club buying the Interactors T-shirts. The Interactors started wearing them on select days and other students were able to identify them and ask what it was….