District 5050 Youth Service

YES (Youth Engaged in Service) is a program which sponsors high school students on an International Service project (currently in Guatemala). Youth are required to perform volunteer hours throughout the school year, earning credit towards the cost of the trip (paid by a sponsoring Rotary club). Students are asked to join or form an Interact club following the service trip.

YES has been so successful that we now offer two programs on both sides of the border. Contact Bev Harrington (bev.harrington@msn.com) for the USA program and Keesha Rosario (keesha_rosario@yahoo.ca) for the CDN program. Note the YES application deadline is September 24.

Rotary Youth Exchange is a year long exchange program where a local high school student lives with Rotarians and goes to school in another country while a student from that country lives with our families here. The experience is life changing both for the students and the families that host them. Applications will be due this fall with interviews taking place in January. Contact Dave Sliman, Chair (DSliman@waterstonelaw.com).

YAIL & RYLA are youth leadership programs that take place over a few days and can lead to life changing experiences for the participants.

YAIL (Youth Adventures In Leadership) is for high school students and will held January 17-19, 2014. Contact Ray Green, Chair (rlg61@whidbey.com). YAIL is now accepting applications through its website at www.yail.org

RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) is for older youth (ages 18-30) and will be held April 16-20, 2014. RYLA also has a website (www.ryla5050.org) and will begin accepting applications after mid-January 2014. Contact Jackie Smith, Chair (Jackie@uk2ca.com)