The Buffalo State Rotaract Club at Buffalo State College is a community service-based organization that helps unite students who share a passion for getting involved. During the past year, the club volunteered at several service events and supported many community partners in the region including FeedMore WNY, Buffalo City Rotary, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens, Ken-Ton Meals on Wheels, and West Side Promise. Students in this organization have clearly demonstrated their commitment to community engagement and are living their organization’s mission of “service about self.”
For all their commitment and hard work, the Rotaract Club received the 2021 Outstanding Community Service by a Student Organization Award at the annual Celebration of Community Engagement ceremony. The award is presented to the student organization that provided valuable service to the community, extending its mission and influence beyond SUNY Buffalo State.
During the Spring 2021 semester, the organization partnered with several community partners. In conjunction with Rotary Club of Amherst South, 140 pairs of socks of all sizes were donated to families and individuals around the area. An executive board member worked with Hamburg Presbyterian Church members and Journey’s End Refugee Service’s “Home Again” Project in preparing a home for a family of 8 arriving from the Congo. The group also worked with West Side Promise Neighborhood to unload a food delivery truck of package kits for families to pick up later in the day within the Black Rock neighborhood.
In late December 2020, members of Rotaract packed over 40 boxes to be distributed to pantries in the Western New York Area. They worked with FeedMore WNY, which runs both the Food Bank and Meals on Wheels. In March 2021, the Rotaractors returned to FeedMore WNY to volunteer. They filled 20 pound boxes of assorted canned and packaged goods to give to those in need in Western New York. Overall, the group prepared 90 boxes, totaling over 1,800 pounds of food! Also, during the Ken-Ton Meals on Wheels Take Out Meal Fundraiser, Rotaract members served on the food line and helped in preparing packaged meals.
