Interact is a student division of the Oakwood Rotary that was founded by Oakwood alumnus Brett Wedding in 2014.

“The Interact motto is ‘Service Above Self’. Our biggest focus is giving up our time to further the causes of others in order to make the world better on both a local and global scale,” Caden Sanford (12), co-president of Interact said over email. “This year and in years past we have contributed to projects like making lunches for school kids in Kettering who can’t always afford a lunch as part of the Kettering Backpack Program, we’ve helped clean up Houk Stream by picking up trash and cleaning up vegetation, we’ve went shopping for Christmas presents for Dayton families who can’t afford them as part of the Homefull program, we’ve had an annual spring cleanup of the Miami river with metro parks, and Interact always helps with That Day in May festivities.”

Interact contributes to International causes as well.  

“Internationally, because we are located in America, we like to raise money through selling donuts at school. This money has been donated to causes in the past like building houses for families in Africa and buying toys for kids with cleft palate in international countries. We have also collected items like clothing and kitchenware, among other things, to donate to refugees from countries in distress abroad,” Sanford said.

Along with collecting items to send abroad, the students also collect money for many different charities.

“We raised money for Operation Smile that brought toys to people that were having surgery in other countries,” Lainey Teeters (11) said over email.

In club meetings, students have the opportunity to propose charities they care about for the members to assist.

“I really like that Interact is really a student-run club,” club advisor, Rebecca Veneman said.

While Veneman is the student advisor, students primarily lead the club. Club members seek out service opportunities, plan events, and manage the meetings on their own.

“Interact Club is a division of Oakwood Rotary so they do a lot of things that the Oakwood Rotary does but more on a student scale,” Veneman said.

The club has around 25 committed members, who meet every other Tuesday to discuss volunteering opportunities in the community. Interact has facilitated many different service opportunities throughout the year. Currently, there are four officers, Izzy Armitage (12), Juliana Chen (12), and Caden Sanford and Peter Haverland (12) who are co-presidents. Next year, Mia Gorman (11) and Lainey Teeters (11) will be officers.

“I am excited to be an officer next year because I will get to run lots of fun service projects and help lots of people,” Teeters said.

While Interact Club is focused on helping others, doing good for others also provides benefits for those in the club.

“I think volunteering and giving up your time for people who need it is such a great cause,” Sanford said. “Living in a community like Oakwood shows how fortunate we are compared to people living in other areas of the world, so giving back in anyway possible, like through this Interact club, makes me feel good and I hope it’s the same for others as well.”

By: Karina Czeiszperger

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