Interact Club brushes up on service efforts

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Juniors Leilani Berry, Nathaly Flores, Kristy Shao, Linda Moreno and Alexander Vargas finish painting a bench at Leroy Jackson Park.

Mahnoor Ahmad, Staff Writer

Seeking to beautify the local area, Interact Club’s parent organization, Rotary Club of China Lake, purchased a few benches to place around the community. Happy to assist in the effort, Interact Club members eagerly volunteered to paint the benches a bright Rotary gold.
Over the span of two weeks, Interactors painted a total of four benches at LeRoy Jackson Park and Ridgecrest Regional Hospital.
On both days, the Interactors organized themselves into work teams, while cleaning and painting the benches efficiently.
The members who painted benches at Leroy Jackson Park were juniors Nathaly Flores, Alexander Vargas, Leilani Berry, Kristy Shao, and Linda Moreno.
Despite the windy weather, Vargas said he found it an enjoyable experience while working with his friends.
“I haven’t painted many things before so this was my first experience, but doing so with others made it both fun and the product looked nice,” said Vargas. “I think I’d go paint the bench again because it’s nice doing service for this special park!”
The following week, Interact members Benjamin Gamboa, Andrew Bui, Sean Pecore, Azalia Hernandez, Madison Ray, and Paloma Luevano painted two benches in front of the emergency entrance at the hospital.
For both weeks, Rotary Club member David Saint Amand supervised the service opportunity and was pleased with the members’ ability to work together.
“An important part of caring for a community is working to ensure that the community is clean and maintained,” said Saint Amand. “The Interactors certainly did that.”
Interact Club is seeking more opportunities to help out with service and prioritize helping the community first.
Sophomore Madison Ray has been an active member of the club for two years and has grown to love volunteering.
“I love participating in service projects because it helps me meet new people and it allows me to become an active member in our community!”
If students are interested in joining, Interact Club meets Tuesdays at lunch in Room M-41.