Interactors inspire others to walk for children

After two years of successful fundraising, the Interact Club of National Experimental High School (NEHS) in Taiwan isn't content to rest on its laurels. The club's annual walkathon held at the school has collected more than US$35,000 for the Center for Mentally Challenged Children, and the enthusiastic Interactors have pledged to continue
the special event every year.

The main objective of the walkathon was to increase awareness of the needs of mentally challenged children. As its popularity grew, however, the walk earned notoriety inside and outside NEHS, helping Interactors recruit new members and secure donations.

Participants now range from students, teachers, and parents to interested members of the community.

The walkathon takes place on a carefully marked track on school grounds. The track features rest stops every 850 feet (250 meters) where walkers can break for water and soft drinks. Trying to beat their distance from the previous year, some participants made it as far as 14 miles (23 kilometers) during the walkathon's two-hour time limit.

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Hsinchu Northwest, Interactors organized the entire fundraiser by themselves, including publicity, marking the route, and using the school's public-address system to play music during the walk.

RI seeks evidence of promises kept to help American
youth

Two years ago, Rotary International pledged that its 7,400 Rotary clubs in the United States would conduct activities benefiting an additional one million young Americans in the following three years. It was one of hundreds of commitments by businesses, nonprofit organizations, and state and local governments made in response to the landmark U.S. Presidents' Summit for America's Future -- better known as America's Promise -- held in Philadelphia in April 1997. Now RI would like to find out how Rotary clubs have kept that promise.

Newsweek magazine in its April 28, 1997, issue ranked Rotary's pledge to America's
Promise as among "the nation's top twenty"commitments to increase service to the nation's youth. Rotary stated that its clubs' many community initiatives would help provide young people with safe places to play and learn, marketable career skills, mentoring or tutoring, scholarships, health care services, and opportunities to serve their communities through Rotary-sponsored Interact clubs, Scout units, or similar programs -- among other activities.

The America's Promise crusade, chaired by retired U.S. General Colin Powell, was launched amidst a spate of harrowing reports about the extent of youth crimes, suicides, drug abuse, pregnancies, and experience of abuse. America's Promise has continued to highlight both the challenges facing youth and the achievements of those who made promises to help the nation's young people, in part via its Web site at www.americaspromise.org.

Rotary demonstrated renewed commitment to helping needy children by making them the primary focus of five presidential conferences in 1998- 99, including one that was held in Washington, D.C. RI and The Rotary Foundation also pooled US$20 million to fund one-time Children's Opportunities Grants for projects, more than 300 of which have been sponsored by U.S. clubs. RI adopted "children at risk" as a special emphasis earlier this year, and RI President Carlo Ravizza created an RI Children's Future Committee.

Rotary clubs are asked to let World Headquarters know of any new or expanded youth-related projects planned or implemented within the RI promise period of July 1, 1997, to July 1, 2000. Send a brief project description, contact name, time frame, the number of youth beneficiaries, and extent of any increase in an ongoing project to Monica Del Angel, CP410, RI, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, fax: (847) 866-8237; e-mail: delangem@rotaryintl.org.