May on the Rotary calendar is Youth service month, or as it was previously known, New Generations. Youth Service is the fifth and newest Avenue of Rotary Service.
Youth Service recognizes the positive change implemented by youth and young adults through leadership development activities, service projects and exchange programs and aims to provide innovative and practical opportunities to assist and motivate young people in our communities to acquire learning and life skills.
Youth Service is an investment in the future. A commitment to Youth Service within and through our clubs is a commitment to the next generation of potential Rotarians and the ongoing future and health of our clubs.
Clubs need to engage with young people and this is frequently via schools with which the club has an association. It is usually through these schools that students are sourced or recommended for our many Rotary Youth Service programs. We only need to observe our commitment to primary school programs such as the Rotary Junior Community Awards and the end of year Pride of Workmanship presentations to see how effective work among the young can be. Add to this our on-going commitments to RYPEN, (unfortunately cancelled by District this year) and the National Youth Science Forum, we can see that secondary students are also well catered for.
Another means of engaging with young people is via Rotaract, Interact and Earlyact. This has become a more difficult assignment locally, but there is no doubt that clubs and clusters who have succeeded in this field have certainly provided wonderful opportunities for the next generation.