Hamilton Rotary Highlights Year Of Achievements

June 27, 2024 | 0 Comments

Jack McDonnell, who served as President of the Hamilton Rotary Interact Club from 2023 to 2024, is reflecting on “all the commendable achievements our club has made this past year.”

Mr. McDonnell said, “As I leave my post as President of the 2023-2024 Hamilton Rotary Interact Club, I wanted to take this time to summarize all the commendable achievements our club has made this past year.

“In July of 2023, the newly elected Interact Executive Team, comprised of myself as President, Youenn Pugi [Vice President], Nia Outerbridge [Treasurer], Kayden Bolin [Secretary], and Tre Simmons [Assistant Secretary] met to discuss and agree upon possible club topics and areas of community support.

“At this meeting, it was agreed by all executive team members that the focus of the 2023-2024 Hamilton Rotary Interact Club would be on the youths of Bermuda. The team then brainstormed a list of ten local charity organizations that support the youths of Bermuda, which would be presented at the first meeting in September.

“At this first meeting, all club members were asked to vote on their top two charities and two were chosen: The Coalition for the Protection of Children [CPC] and KATKiDS, a Bermuda-based charity that supports youth projects in Bermuda as well as Nepal and Uganda. I will admit I went into this meeting not knowing what I should say or focus on, but with the support of the senior advisors, it was exciting to be able to lead a club that was student-focused and to formally establish how the meetings would be run, how often we would meet, where and at what time.

“Every student who attended was able to provide their input and we all made sure to listen to one another. One of the first things we did was to have an ice breaker exercise where everyone introduced themselves to one another. Lastly, we established the 2023-2024 Interact Club vision: have fun, make new friends, and serve the community. It was a great first meeting and we were off and running for the year.

“The next set of meetings was to establish our relationship with CPC [The Coalition] and KATKiDS. Contact was made with representatives at each organization to let them know that their charity had been chosen as one of our club’s charity picks. Each charity was asked to come and speak directly to club members about how we could help serve their needs.

“CPC let us know they had specific projects and events where they could use the club’s volunteering support. One of these projects was to support an initiative with Digicel where they needed teen volunteers to partake in a three-part educational video series titled ’4 Teen, By Teens.’

“Digicel organized three round-table discussions surrounding three different social media topics: 1] Gone in a Flash? Not so Fast 2] Power in Privacy and 3] Selfie Love. Almost every Interactor wanted to volunteer to be involved with this project and, I must admit, at the first taping we were all very nervous about sharing and being filmed on these topics, but the moderators, who were CPC staff members, made us feel very welcome and comfortable, to the point where it was like hanging out in someone’s basement chatting about these topics.

“The videos our club helped to create allowed CPC to get free Wi-Fi access from Digicel for a year. Each video ran within Digicel’s store over Christmastime and was also posted on their Instagram pages. It was great publicity for the club, and it allowed many of the club members to come out of their shell, which was amazing to see.

“A second event where our club supported CPC was volunteering in their Christmas gift and food drive-thru event in December. Interactors helped to decorate the space as well as handing out gifts and food. Some club members went above and beyond, dressing up as various Grinch-themed characters to make it a fun and festive event for the families and children who rely on The Coalition.

“I will admit I was dressed up as one of the Grinches, and as hot and uncomfortable as it was wearing the costume for a couple of hours, seeing the children light up with their big smiles as they drove past was all worth it.

“KATKiDS let us know that a monetary donation to their charity would be the best way of supporting them, so, with the help of our senior advisors, we put together two main fundraising events. The first was the Hamilton Rotary Interact Club Tag Day, held on February 5th where club volunteers stood outside Washington Mall from 9am to 3pm, each with one hour shifts asking for donations made towards supporting youth in Bermuda charity causes.

“Everyone did a wonderful job that day and we managed to get lots of donations and spread the word on what the Hamilton Rotary Interact Club is and as well as our current charity goals. In total, we were able to raise $612.

“The second event was a car wash and bake sale held on March 23rd where club members washed cars and sold baked goods at the Paget Lights Gas Station. Donations of many wonderfully baked goods were provided and many of the Interactors came together where we put our all into ensuring each car that came in for a car wash left looking like a brand-new car. Overall, the event was a huge success as we managed to raise $685 from the car wash, $216 from the bake sale, and $200 from donations. The grand totals for day were $1,101.40 in funds raised.

“Everyone agreed that both the Tag Day and the car wash/bake sale were both successful events and, since we also had additional funds in our Interact account, members decided to donate $1,000 each to both KATKiDS and CPC. In May, both charities formally came to our club meeting and accepted a Certificate of Service and the presentation of the check. As President, I was incredibly happy that we were able to meet our goals for the year and be able to donate such large sums.

“Other club service events we participated in this year including volunteering our time to support Hamilton Rotary Club’s 1K, 5K Kidney Disease Awareness Walk/Run held at the Botanical Gardens, supporting District 7230’s Club Officer learning session in May, and continued KBB clean-ups throughout the island.

“Hamilton Rotary Club President Greg Soares helped to organize a learning session for our Interact Club at Ignite Bermuda where we learned what it was like to be an entrepreneur in Bermuda and how anyone [even teens like us] who has a great idea can get help and advice to turn their vision into a real business. We learned how many small businesses on island received mentorship from Ignite members to help them through the various stages of setting up their businesses. This field trip opened up a lot of eyes and interest with the Interactors as it gave us a different perspective on future career and intern opportunities.

“Lastly, one of the best parts of being a member of the Interact Club was being able to get together for social activities. In the fall, we had a fun movie day where ADG Peronia Brown donated tickets to all Interact Clubs to watch the movie Blue Beetle at the Dockyard Movie Theatre. A donor paid for all our drinks, candy, and popcorn, and we had a blast watching a fun movie on a Sunday afternoon.

“In December, after the CPC drive-thru event, we all met for late lunch at Rosa’s, where we ate a ton of great food and opened gifts from our secret Santas.

“And, most recently, on Friday, June 7th, we held our end of year bonfire at Warwick Long Bay, where we had an amazing time bonding at the beach and eating pizzas and s’mores, all while winding down the year as we head into summer.

“In closing, without a doubt, this past year has been an amazing learning and successful adventure for me. I truly believe we achieved our club’s vision statement. I am very thankful to Hamilton Rotary Club President, Greg Soares for finding us a great location to hold our meetings as well as setting us up on Basecamp and all the senior advisors [Advisor Denoris Smith, Advisor Katherine McDonnell, Advisor Nolwenn Pugi, and Advisor Michelle Smith] for being there to help and guide me and all the club members whenever we needed support, and, most importantly, for allowing us to run the club as independently as we possibly could.

“Our ideas were heard, and we were able to successfully execute them, and I greatly appreciated their trust in us as it made my experience as President much more fun and fulfilling. I would also like to thank the Interact Executive Team for all the work they put in such as, creating meeting notes [thanks to Kayden Bolin and mid-term elected Rhys Swift], posting pictures to our social media [thanks to Skye Charles] and learning about the club’s finances [thanks to Treasurers Mathieu Duguay and Nia Outerbridge].

“I would especially like to thank my Vice President Youenn Pugi for his assistance and reliability whenever I could not attend a meeting or needed an extra pair of hands. I truly wish the incoming President and Executive Team the best of luck and I am excited to see what next year has in store for the Hamilton Rotary Interact Club.

“Yours in service, Jack McDonnell, outgoing President, Hamilton Rotary Interact Club [2023-2024].”

The newly elected 2023-2024 HR Interact Club Executive Team.