So what is Rotaract?
It’s an association of young professionals and university students, all between the ages of 18 and 30. It’s for both professional development networking and community service.

And how did you get involved?
I was a member of Rotaract in Canada at my university, and then when I came to Shanghai I wanted to be involved as well. It’s a great way to meet people.

What kinds of projects do you do?
Last year we partnered with three Carrefour stores and 50 volunteers to collect and donate cans of non-perishable food items. It was very, very successful, much more so than we ever hoped. We raised 2.5 tons of food, which we distributed to people in Anhui. We are working with a Suzhou orphanage, where there are about 12 kids, 10 of whom have special needs. We also did a quiz night fundraiser, where teams played against each other to win a trip to Bali, with all proceeds going to charity.

What’s next? We’re working on finding a project in Shanghai or in neighboring provinces and, in January, Hong Kong’s club is coming and we’ll do a weekend of service. We’re also planning professional development events, with speakers from different industries coming in to talk to us about how to give back.

How can we help? People can get involved by coming to our meetings, which are Mondays at 7:30pm at Bali Bistro. We always need people who want to foster change in their community and who have initiative and ideas. We want people who are ready to get involved and do something more than just to go school or work, then home or out to party. We also have regular socials so it’s about more than just giving back, it’s about having fun.

DETAILS

Where: Bali Bistro on Monday nights at 7:30PM

Contact: Rotaract Shanghai, cotecatherine@hotmail.com