Rotaracts, Rotarians ready to assist with your chores

Special to The Londoner by Cathy Boyd

If it’s better to give than to receive, and if actions speak louder than words, then logic would hold the University of Western Ontario’s Rotaract Club in conjunction with the Rotary Clubs of London definitely have their acts and actions together.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, these groups will hold their seventh annual Day of Giving. It’s a day as many as 50 Rotarians and 100 Rotaract volunteers spend assisting seniors, shut-ins, and the physically challenged in completing a variety of tasks
If you can name it they can do it – from house cleaning, snow shoveling, minor repairs, running errands, moving furniture and yes, even changing that proverbial light bulb.
Who are these good Samaritans and why do they do it?
Rotaract – a combination of the words Rotary and action – is an international organization of service clubs for men and women age 18 and up. There are more than 6,400 Rotaract clubs in 170 countries and Western's happens to be the largest in the world.
“There are 500 Rotaracts at Western so there’s a huge workforce this project can call upon,” claims Bruce McGauley of London Rotary Club and Day of Giving committee member. “And this year Fanshawe College members are getting in on the action.”
The Rotary Club is a service club organization whose members are business and professional leaders who volunteer their time and talents to serve their community.
In 2003, Western’s Rotaract members wanted a project to give back to the community. They contacted London Rotary Clubs and together came up with this project involving all seven Rotary clubs in the London area.
Says Rotaract member Sara Nagalingam: “As students we wanted to go out into the community, not only to represent the university but promote it as well. We are mainly enclosed on the campus and lose track of what goes on outside these walls. This is a way to demonstrate some of our goals, community service being one of them.”
Fellow Rotaract, Biju Mathai, adds, “As students of Western we want to be part of the community and actually make a difference within London and surrounding areas.”
Every year new people are added. Students eventually graduate and new students take over. Ideally the university would like to see the high schools in the area begin the process as a group called Interacts. Once they graduate from high school they would then become Rotaracts. This has been difficult to coordinate since high schools already have similar programs in place.
Whether you need cleaning behind that stove or fridge, assistance taking down those Christmas decorations, vacuuming, painting, caulking, or flipping mattresses, you name it they’ll do it. “One year”, says Biju, “an 88 year old woman requested assistance in organizing her closet. A major undertaking for her but something the Rotaracts could clearly assist with.”
How do they accomplish this? Initially, Rotarians and Rotaracts list their strengths and expertise and these qualities are matched with the all requests for services made.
“Many of our students are technologically savvy so we get many requests for computer setups,” says Sara.
Adds Bruce: “We get asked something simple like changing the ringer on a client’s phone to being asked the difficult task of replacing a door sweep. Last year the volunteers placed a new door sweep on the front of a client’s door. The entire door and old door trim had to be removed. It was one of the more involved and timely projects completed.”
There’s lots of repeat business annually but the students and Rotarians would like to get the word out and expand on their client base.
So just how many people does it take to change a light bulb? On February 7, 2009 it will take a team of London Rotarians and University of Western Ontario Rotaract members and that’s no joke.
IF YOU NEED HELP
¦ If you are a senior, shut-in or physically challenged and wish to have a Rotaract or Rotarian help you with a chore on their Day of Giving Saturday, Feb. 7, phone 519-661-6020 and leave a message indicating exactly what you need done.