Avenues of Service

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is an intensive training program for community youth leaders. Young people chosen for their leadership potential attend an all-expenses-paid seminar to discuss leadership skills and to hone those skills through practice. During the 3-day, 2-night conference, Rotarian leaders demonstrate our respect and concern for youth and provide an effective training experience for the young potential leaders. The curriculum encourages leadership of youth by youth and publicly recognizes young people who are rendering service to their communities.

RYLA enables our Rotary Club to acknowledge the service of youth to the community while exposing a large number of young people, their families, and peer groups to the Rotary ideals of service. It enthuses young leaders, provides them with enhanced leadership techniques, and helps prepare them for future participation in Rotaract and Rotary clubs.

A Rotaract club is an organization sponsored by a Rotary club. Consisting of young people aged 18 to 30 years, it aims to provide its members in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual assistance, the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and methods to promote the development of their personality, taking into account the physical and social needs of the community and to work for good relations between peoples.
Rotaract helps young people:

Increase their professional competence and leadership skills;
Respect the rights of others and recognize the value of each;
Recognize the dignity and importance of all useful occupations and consideration as a means of action within society;
Accept, observe and promote high ethical standards as a basis for any professional activity;
Appreciate and understand the needs, problems and potential of the community and other countries;
Lead, in individual or collective action in the public interest favouring local or international agreement.

Interact is Rotary International's service club for young people aged 12 to 18. Interact clubs are generally sponsored by a Rotary club or clubs, which provide support and guidance, but they are self-governing and self-supporting. Each year, an Interact club completes at least two community service projects, one of which features international understanding and goodwill. Interact helps students develop leadership skills and personal integrity, demonstrate helpfulness and respect for others, understand the value of individual responsibility and hard work and advances international understanding and world peace. Interact is one of the most significant and fastest growing programs in Rotary, with more than 10,700 clubs in 109 countries and geographical areas, and with more than 200,000 members

International service exemplifies our global reach in promoting peace and understanding. We support this service avenue by sponsoring or volunteering on international projects while seeking partners abroad.

Through a cooperative effort with the Rotary Club of Choluteca, Honduras, Madison Rotarians sponsor several humanitarian projects in the communities surrounding Choluteca. Our EcoStove Project not only provides safe, clean cooking stoves, but also supports the local laborers and economy. In addition, we conduct vision and dental clinics each year in these communities. We also deliver clothes, school supplies, vitamins, and books to the families. For over a decade, Madison Rotarians have traveled to these remote villages to experience first-hand the importance of this international service.

Along with 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide, we are proud to be a part of the End Polio Now campaign. We support this global effort to eradicate polio with our Change for Change Campaign and annual donations to Rotary International’s Polio Plus Fund. We are very close to the realization of this goal.