Rotaract: The Next Generation of Rotarians in Action
Do you need volunteers for a community service project? If the answer is “yes,” pick up your phone and make a call to Sariaya Oommen, president of the University of North Texas’ Rotaract Club. Chances are you’ve never heard of Rotaract. Don’t worry. Most people haven’t, which is something Sariaya wholeheartedly wants to change.
First, what is it?
Rotaract is sponsored by the international Rotary Club, with a shared mission of bringing together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, advancing goodwill and peace around the world. Those may sound like lofty words, and that’s okay because these folks are not intimidated easily when it comes to making communities across the globe better.
Rotaract is designed specifically for the younger crowd of 18 and up, with many of the members coming from the even younger version of Interact, which is geared towards 12-18 year-olds.
Youth is oftentimes capable of infusing a new perspective and energy into organizations, while focusing on changing communities for the better. They value “Service Above Self” with a special zeal and direction.
“Rotaract Clubs may be either university or community-based,” said Sariaya, a pre-med student. “We meet only every other week because we have class schedules and study time as factors in our daily dynamics. We also consider those factors when planning our activities and projects.
“We have both a Rotary advisor and a school advisor. It’s up to us to plan our own activities, especially the ones we host. Our networking is Rotary-funded, which is very important to a college student. We’re discussing adding events so we can expand our networking opportunities.”
Sariaya believes the motivational factor pushing young men and women to join Rotaract is their desire to involve themselves in community service. There’s nothing lukewarm about making the overall human community a better and happier place to live, work, and love.
“We have awesome networking opportunities with people from all walks of business life,” Sariaya said. “There’s no doubt there could be rich benefits from that, but it’s rather like getting a bonus.
“Our genuine passion is the community service, which allows us to exchange ideas with community leaders, develop our own professional and leadership skills, and have fun and share friendships through service to others. We’re intent on performing action that has a purpose.
“We put a lot of effort toward environmental and clean water projects. We’re a strong presence in blood drive campaigns. We contribute what we can to Build Across America. We have our Christmas project for kids, and we’re passionate, consistent workers at Shiloh Farms. Shiloh is actually one of our biggest activities, and we try very hard to be there once every month.
“We even take on smaller service projects during our meetings such as building beds for kids and making blankets. Just recently, we packed 35,000 meals. It’s important to note community members are welcome to join us.
“Young people who do not attend UNT may join our Rotaract for a small fee and some minor restrictions. There’s never been one time when our members didn’t enjoy the events and have fun. What I truly want to do is grow the club’s membership. We have over 30 members now, but I want that to be significantly higher. It’s easy to understand that the more people we have, the more we can do to serve our communities. And that’s why we’re here.”
And that’s why Sariaya and most of her fellow Rotaract colleagues will step up to Rotary after they graduate. Their abiding zest for serving their communities will become stronger over the years.
Our world – our communities – will need that dedicated passion and commitment during the years ahead.
To learn more, visit: unt.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/rotaract-club
