Rotaractors leverage their skills and network to give back to their communities

By Felisha Henry, 2017-2018 Community Service Chair of the Rotaract Club of New Kingston, Jamaica

I started the 2017-18 Rotaract year, in my capacity as the Community Service Chair of the Rotaract Club of New Kingston (NKRC), with the intension of adding value to each project implemented by our club. One of these projects was the club’s Back-to-School Medical Camp held at the Nannyville Early Childhood Institution (ECI) in August of each year. The project was initiated as part of the club’s proposal to help remedy low attendance rates and to help the school become a registered early childhood institution.

The project’s goal was to offer participants a wide array of health services in one day. This included extending services to residents in nearby communities and conducting dental cleanings, a presentation on conjunctivitis, and sharing road safety tips, in addition to the yearly medical check-ups. This year the project moved to the larger Sir Howard Cooke Centre to serve more people from the surrounding areas.

As Rotaractors, we leverage our vocations and our networks when serving our communities. With this in mind, I approached the medical professionals in our club as well as our sponsor club to help us engage their networks to sponsor our project. Jhenelle Black, a member of our club, offered free dental services and secured a mobile dental unit for the project. Rotaractor and doctor Kimberley Sommerville helped secure volunteer doctors and successfully engaged Servi-Care as a pharmaceutical sponsor. Health care workers from our sponsor club and the Rotaract Club of St. Andrew also volunteered their time and services to the project.

At our last camp in 2017, the Rotaract Club of New Kingston hit a record 100-attendee mark! The Back-to-School Medical Camp offered 101 medical check-ups and 35 dental cleanings free-of-cost to students between the ages of 3-16, ultimately saving residents $303,000.00 JMD cumulatively in back-to-school expenditure.

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The Rotaract Club of New Kingston was honoured the 2017-18 Rotaract Outstanding Project Award for the USA, Canada, and Caribbean region. Learn more about the Rotaract Outstanding Project Awards!