The Rotaract Club of Oakland University has been giving back to the community and the university since it was established in 2013. This year, they have plans to continue to grow, give and get even more people involved.

Rotaract clubs are an extension of Rotary clubs. Both serve the community by giving back. OU’s rotaract club participates in community service activities such as fundraisers for charities, sending small gifts to troops overseas, painting houses and visiting children’s hospitals.

This past year, the club made snowflakes for children at the DMC hospital in Detroit and helped out at local food banks.

“We volunteer in various soup kitchens and have done multiple fundraisers to raise money for different causes,” said Brittany Savaya, the Rotaract Club’s Public Relations Representative. “Last year we raised money for polio vaccines and breast cancer awareness.”

The club was created with the help of OU’s very own Danielle Azzo. She is currently the club’s president, and was in a Rotary club in high school.

“After doing this kind of work in high school, I kind of fell in love with the club,” Azzo. “I got in contact with my old adviser from school and started a club here at OU.”

The club’s first meeting of the school year will be held Sept. 29, in Gold Room C in the Oakland Center starting at 1 p.m. 

The meeting will feature former Interim President Betty Youngblood, who was recently named Oakland’s president for organizational development and strategic planning.

Youngblood will be talking more in depth about the club and how students can join. She will explain how the community can benefit from the club, how college students can benefit from joining a college club and how rewarding it can feel for people to give back.

“We really wanted someone who could come speak to the student body,” Azzo said. “Youngblood is a familiar face and we thought she would be perfect especially because she was a previous rotary club member.”

The Rotaract club will hold monthly meetings to raise awareness of the club and its accomplishments. They will also host a monthly event either on or off campus.

Any Oakland University student can go to the club’s meetings and sign up to join. You can find the Rotaract club on Twitter and Instagram, @ourotaract, to see what they have been up to this school year and what’s to come in the future.