Posted on Aug 22, 2017
President Bill Chadwick introduced our speaker, Past District Governor Sheila Rollins, by first telling us a bit about St Joseph’s College, Maine’s only Roman Catholic college. St Joseph’s was founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy and was located on the grounds of the Motherhouse on Stevens Ave in Portland until 1956 when it moved to its current location in Standish.   It is now a co-ed liberal arts college situated on a 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake.  At this college, we hope to co-sponsor a new Rotaract club.
 
Sheila began her presentation by educating us about Rotaract, which was founded in 1968.  Interestingly, both men and women were admitted from the start, even though women were not allowed as members in Rotary clubs at that time. Rotaract can be college-based or community-based and is a community service organization for people 18-30. In our District, there is currently an active club at University of New Hampshire.
 
 
Our club has agreed to co-sponsor a new Rotaract Club at St Joseph’s College, along with the Bridgeton Lakes Region and Sebago Lake clubs.  Why sponsor a Rotaract club? Sponsoring a club provides several opportunities. For example, it is an opportunity to mentor aspiring business leaders and philanthropists. We can also make connections with young people to help them develop an interest in Rotary – a means of growing Rotary in the long term.
 
Our club’s role would be to appoint one or two people to be our liaison(s) to the Rotaract club, and meet periodically with Rotaract club leadership. We would support their fundraisers and invite them to support our club fundraisers.  We would also encourage them to attend our club meetings when they can.
 
 
At this time, there is a champion at St Joseph’s – a young man who was active in Interact in High School and who wants to continue with Rotary in college. Sheila will be sharing more detailed information shortly, as the new school year starts.  There are still some hurdles to overcome, but we are hopeful that the new club will move forward this year.
 
At the end of the meeting, we asked Sheila to sign a children’s book that was presented to the Walker Library.