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caption:
Rinsing
Interact Club member Emily St. Martin hoses off a car from on high.
Soap turned into
water buffalo
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
It was like transforming ethereal soap bubbles into the tangible — water buffalo and bees.
The Putnam Rotary Club’s Interact Club, for its international project this year, decided that a car wash, strategically placed at the finish of winter, would be an excellent fund-raiser for its International Heifer project. The project converts donations into animals, insects and seeds that help those in need halfway around the world help themselves.
The trifecta of Rotary workers — the Interact Club, the Putnam Rotary Club’s Rotaract Club and a couple Rotary Club advisors — raised $525 in three hours washing cars. They didn’t set a price; instead they asked customers to donate.
The Rotary Club thanked Rotarian Amanda Kelly and the Hale YMCA Youth and Family Center for hosting/providing the venue for the April 24 fund-raiser.
Interactors voted to use the $525 to buy one water buffalo, trees and garden seeds, four flocks of chicks and two bee hives.
Interact Advisor Roberta Rocchetti said Rotary International “encourages Interact to do at least one international project each year.” Last year, she said, “we used the money we had earned at the 2019 Putnam car show and combined with the Putnam Rotary Club to assist in (former Rotary Club President Richard Naumann’s) clean water project in Ecuador.”
Past Putnam Rotary Club Interact Clubs had contributed to International Heifer, Rocchetti said, but this small, but hard-working current club really made it happen, and in three short hours. She said, “We were very excited to earn $525 in three hours by washing cars. The Rotaract Club had a team and the Interact club had a team so we were able to wash a lot of cars in a short period of time. They worked well together.”
Interact President Brayden Cutler said:” Thank you Kevin Davis and Rotaract members. Our car wash was a success because of your help.”
Interact members who took part include: Cutler, Ethan Staples, Emma Braithwaite, Laylah Chavez, Abby St.Martin, Emily St.Martin plus Rotary advisors Marcy Dawley and Rocchetti. Rotaract members included: Kevin Davis, Quinebaug Valley Regional Rotaract Club president; Elle-Jordyn Goslin Tayler Shea (also representing NOW), Megan Berkery, Kelli O’Brien, and Douglas Henry. Also helping was a QVRR guest, Matt Sanchas.
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