On Sept. 30, the University of Rhode Island Rotaract Club held a cleanup at Roger Wheeler State Beach.
The Rotaract Club is an organization at URI dedicated to creating positive change in the world through community service events like holding food drives and beach cleanups. This is a good way for students to get involved in helping their community and to connect with others who share the same interest in service. It is affiliated with the Rotary Club, which is a larger organization dedicated to the same values. Rotaract Club often partners with the Wakefield Rotary for different community service projects.
Depending on the event, Rotaract will help with the efforts of other organizations as well as planning their own. The club also holds regular meetings, along with these service events.
“It went well. We had it canceled on us because of the rain but we decided to go and we got to pick up a lot of trash,” Club Secretary Grace Pereira said.
The cleanup was initially going to consist of more people, as the Rotaract Club was partnering with the International Center as well as Wakefield Rotary. However, due to the weather, many were unable to attend, according to Pereira.
The cleanup, which began at 11 a.m., lasted around one hour before the weather intensified and the participants had to leave. The group of ten people collected six full bags of trash despite only having an hour, according to the Club Treasurer Justin Keyes.
“I feel pretty good about it. It’s always more trash than you’re expecting,” Ethan Schumann, a member of the club, said. “And afterwards, after seeing all the bags piled up – personally, I was feeling accomplished.”
The group made a positive impact on the environment that day, which had a direct impact on their lives as well as those in the larger community. Justin Keyes has a personal connection to this beach cleanup.
“Because I live down in Point Judith, I’m a few minutes from the beach,” Keyes said. He often goes to the beach with roommates and was able to really witness the positive effects of the Rotaract Club. “It felt good to give back, especially for my neighbors, people who I live around, people I know, kids. It just felt great.”
“It was really nice to clean up the community,” Pereira said. “And everyone had a fun time.”
The URI Rotaract Club also holds other community service events throughout the year. For one of their upcoming projects, they are apple picking at East Farm with the volunteers from the Free Farmers Market on Oct. 16 and 23. For another event, they are helping to set up scarecrows and supervise a community pumpkin painting for Halloween.
“We’re also going to do a food drive towards Thanksgiving – we generally do that every year,” Keyes said. “We’re excited for that.”
“It definitely feels good to know that you’ve made an impact on the community, especially with a club like this,” Pereira said. “That gives us the resources to do it.”