Greenies Spread Goodwill in Rotary Interact Club
Christ School students help with local, international social issues
Christ School's Rotary Interact Club has an agenda. And that's a good thing.
One of the most popular clubs for Greenies – going strong at 40 members – identifies social issues in the Asheville community and beyond. The Rotary Interact Club then tackles the causes by raising money or through volunteer work.
So far this school year, the boys have put in more than 500 combined service hours.
Evan Hoyle '19 said that a Martin Luther King Jr. Day visit to Asheville's Veterans Restoration Quarters was particularly memorable. The Veterans Restoration Quarters is meant to get homeless men and women, who have served in the military, back on their feet with independent housing and income.
"We helped pack lunches on a day where there was a Code Purple (temperatures fell below 32 degrees) and they were bringing people in from outside," Evan said. "We had about 20 minutes to meet the veterans and that was definitely the highlight for me. Hearing their stories and the passion that many of them have for trying to find a job."
Veterans, hunger, housing, and the plight of refugees are annual causes for the Rotary Interact Club. Adjustments can be made on the fly though, as was the case with collecting $800 last fall for hurricane victims in Cuba. Soon, the Rotary Interact Club will present a $500 check to the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry which needed funds for its "Safe and Warm" blanket and heating assistance campaign.
Other upcoming efforts are Saturday's Midnight MANNA at Asheville's Manna FoodBank, fundraisers for the Junior Diabetes Relief Fund and Yemen refugees, as well as a February 25 return to the Veterans Restoration Quarters.
Leadership for the Rotary Interact Club are three seniors who have put in four years of membership – John Beard '18, Aldo Mell '18, and Luke Brazinski '18. Their faculty advisor is Olga Mahoney.
