Celebrating A Decade Of Service With St. Cloud Rotaract

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- An organization for young professionals in our community is celebrating its 10th anniversary.

St. Cloud Rotaract launched in 2015.

Clare Richards is one of its founding members. She says Rotaract lives under the Rotary umbrella and is designed for the emerging professionals just getting started in their careers.

I love the Rotary Club, I am friends with many Rotarians, but they are at a different stage in their life and career, as we were craving something designed for mid 20s to mid-30s age range.

Richards says they have about 25 active members.

She says, in keeping with its parent organization, the Rotary Club's mission of giving back to the community, Rotaract has a goal of raising $10,000 to go towards a new outdoor water park at the YMCA.

So, donating to the YMCA water park, which will be here hopefully for generations, this is the Rotaract Club's opportunity to dip its toe into these lasting community-wide projects.

Rotaract is hosting a 10th anniversary gala this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Harvester Square in St. Cloud. Tickets are $65 each. Richards says it is open to anyone and calls it a community celebration.

She says the decision to help start the group and the connections she has made since then have helped her land roles on the St. Cloud Planning Commission, the Central Minnesota Community Foundation Board, the Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation Board, as well as other groups.

This is not just a plug for Rotaract, this is a plug for any of the young leader organizations in town and there are a lot of them, there's the Chamber NEXT group, the Young Professionals of St. Cloud group, the Young Leaders of St. Cloud group, there's a number of these groups and I think each one has its own flavor, and it's own approach.  The most important thing is to get out there, get involved, and get your name out there.

Besides fundraising, Rotaract hosts two meetings a month, offers professional development, and has volunteer opportunities like school supply drives, food drives, and highway clean-ups.

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