You may have already noticed containers around town at restaurants and other places for collecting pennies as part of the 鈥榃e Create Change鈥� program.

Members of the Lakes District Secondary School (LDSS) Interact Rotary Club have been working on the campaign in support of Free the Children, an international charity that promotes a 鈥榶outh-helping-youth鈥� approach to foreign aid.

Interact is Rotary International鈥檚 service club for young people ages 12 to 18. The Interact club is sponsored by the 亚洲天堂 Lake  Rotary Club, but the club is self-governing and self-supporting.

Janelle O鈥橫eara and Carli Moroski stopped by the Lakes District 亚洲天堂 to talk about their club鈥檚 most recent activity in 亚洲天堂 Lake.

鈥淧ennies are going out of circulation in February, so we鈥檙e collecting the pennies and other change to go towards providing clean water in Africa,鈥� said Moroski.

The students will collect the donated change and pour the pennies into bags supplied by the Royal Bank.

鈥淥nce the bag is filled to the fill line, there鈥檚 $25, that鈥檚 enough to provide drinking water to one person for life,鈥� O鈥橫eara said.

There are six other members of the Interact club.  LDSS teacher Patti Dube helps steer their activities.

鈥淢iss Dube helped us a lot but we did the research and liked this idea,鈥� said O鈥橫eara.  鈥淲ith the pennies going out of circulation, it seemed like a way to get other people involved.鈥�

The club has a large jar set up at LDSS.  Interact members hope other people will come to share their vision for marking the end of the penny.

鈥淲e get satisfaction from knowing that we鈥檙e doing something to make a difference,鈥� said Moroski.

The club has been meeting once a week at lunch to prepare posters and get the word out about the project.

The Interact club has been involved in Rotary and non-Rotary events around town.

鈥淚t鈥檚 opened our eyes to the value of volunteer experience and it鈥檚 got us involved in the community,鈥� said O鈥橫eara.

Anyone between 12 and 18 can join the club, but O鈥橫eara and Moroski said that the students that join tend to be a little older because their work requires a lot of interaction with adults.

鈥淲e do volunteer work with the Rotary,鈥� said O鈥橫eara.  鈥淲e helped with the auction, so you need to feel confident enough to talk to adults in the Rotary and elsewhere.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e mostly older students now, in grades 11 and 12,鈥� said Moroski.

O鈥橫eara has been with the club for three years and Moroski for two years.  They both joined because the club and its activities looked interesting to them.

鈥淢y parents aren鈥檛 in Rotary,鈥� said Moroski of her decision to join.  鈥淭he club was advertising at school and I just decided to show up.鈥�

With students bound to graduate and move away, the club is always looking to recruit new members.

鈥淎nyone is welcome to join,鈥� said O鈥橫eara.  鈥淲e had someone new join just this week.鈥�

The pennies will be collected before Christmas and again in June.  Then the totals will be tallied up and the pennies forwarded to Free the Children.