May is Youth Service Month, when Rotary celebrates the energy, ideas and leadership of young people and renews its commitment to developing the next generation of community and global leaders.

Rotary’s youth programs do more than prepare young people for the future. They give them meaningful opportunities to lead now — through service, international understanding, teamwork and personal growth.

Rotary’s Programs for Young Leaders

Interact brings together young people ages 12 to 18 to develop leadership skills and take action through service. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) offers intensive leadership-development experiences that build confidence, communication and teamwork. Rotary Youth Exchange helps young people experience another culture and build understanding across borders.

Rotaract extends the Rotary family to young adults and other emerging leaders who organize their own service, professional-development and fellowship activities. Together, these programs create pathways through which young people can remain connected to Rotary for many years.

Listen, Mentor and Create Space to Lead

Meaningful youth service requires more than inviting young people to attend Rotary events. Clubs can make a greater impact when they listen to young people, ask what issues matter to them, provide trusted adult mentors, and allow youth participants to design and lead projects themselves.

Rotary’s role is often to open doors — providing encouragement, community connections, project experience, resources and a safe environment in which young leaders can test ideas and learn from both success and failure.

Sunshine Rotary in Action

Sunshine Rotary continues to work alongside younger leaders in practical service. In a recent book drive organized by the Shining Stars Rotaract Club outside the Early Bird Cafe in East Meadow, Sunshine members joined the effort and contributed to the collection of more than 200 books for Book Fairies, helping put reading materials into the hands of children and community organizations.

The Club has also supported young people directly through service projects, including the donation of laptops to children with autism and the provision of educational resources, school supplies and scholarships for disadvantaged students through international partnerships.

These projects show what Youth Service Month can look like in practice: Rotarians mentoring and collaborating with young leaders while creating opportunities for children and young people to learn, participate and thrive.

Ideas for Rotary Clubs This May

Invite Interactors, Rotaractors, Youth Exchange alumni or RYLA participants to lead a club program; sponsor a youth-designed service project; recognize outstanding youth leadership; create mentoring relationships; help establish a new Interact or Rotaract club; or ask young people to help shape the club’s next community initiative.

Rotary Resources

• Rotary — Youth Programs

• Rotary — Interact Clubs

• Rotary — Rotary Youth Leadership Awards

• Rotary — Youth Exchange

• Sunshine Rotary — Book Donation Story