Rotaract, a community service organization on-campus, puts together and contributes to a number of fundraisers and projects designed to help the community throughout the year. One of these is Storytime, a project they do in conjunction with the Albany County Library to sponsor and encourage reading to the children of Laramie. Storytime is focused on 4-8 year olds and Rotaract members will be reading short stories to children from 10am until noon this Saturday.
“We’re planning on having 2 sections of readers so we can read more basic books to the younger kids and more in depth books to the older kids,” Rotaract President Carson Hutchinson said.
Rotaract is holding Storytime to celebrate Global Youth Service Day, a national campaign of Youth Service America. Rotary, Rotaract’s parent organization, also is helping to sponsor the event and Hutchinson recognizes their steadfast commitment to community service as a significant influence in her life.
“Our motto is: Service Above Self,” Hutchinson said. “I’m here in Laramie 9 months out of the year, and I enjoy helping out wherever I can and invest time into whatever community I am in. That’s what Rotary is all about and that’s what I like about it. They are national and international, so I can be an entity of Rotary no matter where I am.”
Hutchinson’s Spring Break to Guatemala bears witness to the inclusive nature of the Rotary community. Just days before her trip, she attended a Rotary meeting where she had a conversation with one of the members.
“He said, ‘You know, Rotary is really big in Guatemala.’ I told him I was going to Guatemala and he said he would put me into contact with the Rotary Club down there,” she said.
She didn’t believe at first that much would come of it, but soon Hutchinson was corresponding with Jose Maldonado, the president of the Guatemala City Rotary Club, via email and set up a meeting with him.
“After only three days of communication, he had dinner with me,” Hutchinson said, still shocked that it happened. “We talked a lot about how our clubs are run and how we should work together. Their club helped a local village of 400 people this Christmas. They gave everyone a meal so they wouldn’t be hungry on Christmas. He told me the hardest part was fundraising so we’re planning on raising funds to help with it next year.”
Hutchinson is optimistic about next year. “We are looking to have a good group next year. We’re obviously excited to network with other organizations, both on and off campus,” she said.
For more information about Storytime or other Rotaract projects, please contact Carson Hutchinson at chutchi8@uwyo.edu.
