What is Interact?

Interact is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young people. Made up of members age 14-18 or secondary-school age, Interact gives young people an opportunity to participate in fun, meaningful service projects. Interact clubs perform at least two projects a year, with one serving the community and the other furthering international understanding. Along the way, Interactors develop their leadership skills and initiative while meeting new friends.

Through their service activities, Interactors learn the importance of:

 

• developing leadership skills and personal integrity
• demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others
• understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work
• advancing international understanding and goodwill

Interactors have access to the many resources of Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation. Rotary International provides the administrative support that helps Interact clubs thrive.

 

A Key Member of the Rotary Family

Rotary International is a worldwide service organization for leading business and professional men and women, with 29,000 Rotary clubs and more than 1.2 million members. Interact clubs are self-supported and self-governing but receive guidance from a sponsoring Rotary club. This sponsorship is a result of Rotary's concern that young people, or "New Generations," should take an active interest in community life and have the opportunity to develop leadership skills. Interact provides a vehicle through which New Generations can find that involvement. Organizing an Interact club is one of the most rewarding activities a Rotary club can undertake in its community. The Interact program gives Rotarians the opportunity to mentor promising young men and women interested in service. Rotarians serve as resources for Interactors who are on the path toward becoming professionals and community leaders. In turn, an Interact club can bring new energy to a Rotary club, inspire fresh ideas for service, increase support of projects, and help develop future Rotarians. A successful Interact club will form service partnerships with its sponsoring club.

 

History

When RI President Harold T. Thomas traveled the world during his year in office in 1959-60, he discovered a deep and widespread feeling among Rotarians that Rotary's potential for developing youth service had not been fully realized. In 1960 Thomas appointed a committee of five Rotarians to study the issue, and two years later, 23 students at Melbourne High School in Melbourne, Florida, USA, came together to form the first Interact club.

The word Interact stands for international action, and today more than 150,000 young people in about 100 countries belong to some 6,500 clubs, making Interact a truly international phenomenon. All over the world, young people are spreading fellowship and international understanding through a wide array of Interact service activities.

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