Welcome to Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Virginia, where we provide 1,500 hours of programs to more than 2,500 children annually. Our Interact clubs bring together young people aged 12 to 18 to develop leadership skills and discover the power of giving before thinking about themselves. Through these clubs, students learn a new language, explore another culture, and become citizens of the world. Rotary clubs in more than 100 countries sponsor exchanges for students aged 15 to 19. Rotary also offers activities and programs that involve young people up to 30 years old in their community and in service projects that foster their interest in Rotary.
Many Rotary clubs are looking for ways to care for elderly people in their community, who face deteriorating health problems, loneliness, poor nutrition, transportation difficulties, inability to perform usual tasks, loss of family associations, reduced recreational opportunities, inadequate housing, and limited information about the social agencies available to provide emergency assistance. The district governor is an experienced Rotarian who generously dedicates a year to volunteer leadership. He visits club leaders as a friendly and helpful advisor to promote the Rotary Goal among clubs in the district and as a catalyst to help strengthen Rotary programs. The district governor also performs a number of specific functions to ensure that the quality of Rotary does not deteriorate in the district and is responsible for promoting and implementing all the programs and activities of the president of Rotary International and the RI Board of Directors.
Each Interact club must be sponsored and supervised by a Rotary club and must plan annual projects to serve its school, the community, and the world. Read the latest news about how the Rotary Youth Exchange is a catalyst for service, cultural understanding, and lasting connections with Rotary. Rotary's popularity spread across the United States over the next decade; clubs were founded from San Francisco to New York. The first Rotaract club was founded by the Charlotte North Rotary Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Approximately 36 percent of Rotary Youth Exchange students are hosted or sent by clubs in the United States and Canada. We rang the Salvation Army bells, cleaned up the Rivanna River between Darden Towe and Riverview parks, and joined other local Rotary clubs to set up benches, plant shrubs, and carry out other projects in McIntire Park. Soon, Rotarians realize that warm, personal friendship is the cornerstone of every great Rotary club. Many clubs take this opportunity to launch an international community service activity or connect with a Rotary club in another country.
It's a good month to start a Rotary scholarship exchange, a three-year project aimed at encouraging support for PolioPlus and other programs of The Rotary Foundation. Around this time Ben Collins, president of the Rotary Club of Minneapolis (Minnesota), commented that the right way to organize a Rotary club was to follow the principle that his club had adopted: To serve, not oneself. To celebrate this designated month many clubs organize international conferences, invite young exchange students and international academics from schools and universities to club meetings, plan programs with former members of the group study exchange team, organize debates on international issues, offer entertainment with an international cultural or artistic theme, and program other programs with an international emphasis. Once a week there is an opportunity to receive Rotary scholarships at every club meeting but not all members hear a knock on the door.
The Supreme Court of the United States confirmed the judgment handed down by the California court stating that Rotary clubs have a business purpose and are in a way public organizations. Finally in 1922 it was decided that all Rotary Clubs would adopt a unique design as an exclusive emblem for Rotarians.
