“What exactly does the Interact Club do? Aren’t they the ones that put on those delicious bake sales in the commons after school?” These are the questions that are asked by many students about one of Absegami’s youngest clubs. Although the club does rely on bake sales to support one of its efforts, club members also find time to enjoy team-building activities with Interactors throughout the region while aiding local, national and international organizations.
The first of the club’s accomplishments this year was volunteering at the Community Food Bank in Egg Harbor Township at the end of October. Interactors who attended helped box approximately 3,500 boxes of food for various food pantries in the area so families in need could enjoy a healthy, traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was the date of the second community service activity the club participated in. Close on the heels of the region’s Mid-Year Assembly, members attended Stockton College’s “Day of Service” ceremony and traveled to the Atlantic City Aquarium to help organize The Baby Blue Foundation’s annual Birthday celebration.
At the party, Interactors worked with children and helped inform the community about the foundation’s goals to make sure that newborn children do not fall victim to unnatural deaths because of their mothers’ uncertainty about raising a child. In addition to learning and spreading the word about the foundation, Interactors also had time to explore the aquarium’s many interesting exhibits. Transportation to and from the Mid-Year Assembly and the “Day of Service” activities were provided by the club’s sponsor, The Egg Harbor City Rotary Club.
In April, members of the club participated in a C.O.P.E. (Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience) course in Elmer due to the financial assistance of the Atlantic City Rotary Club. At the course, Interactors enjoyed team- and confidence-building activities that tested their leadership, camaraderie and both physical and mental strength under professional supervision.
On Earth Day, twelve members of the club volunteered at a clean-up at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville. With the assistance of various groups around the region, the group cleaned up over three tons of debris from the 8-mile Wildlife Drive on one of the more beautiful spring days in April.
Seventeen members of the Interact Club volunteered their time at the Multiple Sclerosis Society’s walk-a-thon (i.e. the MS Walk) at Ocean City’s Boardwalk on May 4th. At the walk, Interactors learned how to provide service with a smile as they kept over 550 walkers hydration and nutrition levels up while completing the scenic four-mile walk in the sun.
The club’s most crowning achievement this year, however, is donating $600.00 to The Orchid Foundation, a non-profit organization that has serviced and maintained the Armando Rosenberg Home and School in the Dominican Republic since the early 1980’s. The club’s donation will go toward a container filled with food and supplies for the orphanage’s 150 resident children between the ages of four and ten years old.
Much of the money for the orphanage has been raised through the various bake sales the club has conducted at the school throughout the year. So, to all those who bought some yummy after-school treats, the club has just one thing to say: “Thank you!”
