Dedicated to organizing cultural activities and volunteer projects around China, the Rotaract Club of Shanghai is composed of young professionals and graduate students living in Shanghai. Every Monday evening, the club holds its weekly meeting at Bali Bistro, 75 Wanhangdu Road, where guest speakers, typically pioneers or leaders in their fields, are invited to speak.

On Monday, the club invited mentalist Steve Scanner to perform. Mentalists are entertainers who purport to be able to read minds, predict the future and influence people's behavior. For one of his tricks, Scanner brought a woman from the audience on stage. He gave her a six-sided die, told her to choose a number, and asked her to place the die in a small jar with the number facing up. Scanner was not allowed to see any of this.

After asking the woman several questions, he correctly guessed the woman's number - five. Enthusiastic applause erupted from the intrigued audience.

"Normally, we have all kinds of speakers," said Alexander R. Ma, a representative of the China PRC District Rotaract. "The Steve Scanner show was really fun and interactive, but we usually invite general managers or CEOs to share their life stories in the weekly meeting. We hear about everything from business to volunteering in order to improve ourselves."

Other than its weekly meeting, the Rotaract Club organizes volunteer projects, including food and clothing drives. They also volunteer at orphanages and hospitals.

For the clothing drive, Rotaract Club volunteers ask people at universities and companies to donate clothing, shoes and blankets that they no longer need. The club then gives the donations to local and regional migrant schools. The clothing drive takes place at the end of university semesters.

The club's annual food drive takes place between Christmas and the Spring Festival holiday, Ma said. Last year, 50 Rotaract volunteers visited large supermarkets seeking donations of nonperishable items such as rice, flour and cooking oil. Volunteers set up stands, put up posters and passed out fliers to explain the drive to supermarket customers, who could then buy extra items to donate. The volunteers collected 2,500 kilograms of food last year. They donated it to underprivileged families on Chongming Island.

The Rotaract Club of Shanghai has a signature charity project called Boxes of Love, said Liza Chantelle, the president of the Rotaract Club of Shanghai. Together with the local nongovernmental organization Mifan Mama, Rotaract volunteers decorate boxes and fill them with sweets for orphans throughout China. The project takes place in December or January each year to give the orphans a taste of Christmas and a way to celebrate the new year.

Of all of the Rotaract Club of Shanghai's projects, Chantelle is most fond of Boxes of Love.

The club is now expanding into infrastructure projects. For example, it is trying to build water and sanitation facilities in villages in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces.

Ma served as president of the Rotaract Club of Shanghai from July 2013 to June 2014. Although he is a citizen of the Netherlands, his grandfather hails from Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. After doing an exchange program in China, he decided to study for his master's degree in Shanghai. He got his master's in economics from Fudan University this year. He now works for a European multinational company in Shanghai. He got involved in Rotary when he first came to Shanghai in 2011 because his family was active in the club in the Netherlands.

The Rotaract Club of Shanghai is a part of the Rotary Club of Shanghai, Chantelle said. There are clubs for three different age groups. Rotary is for people above 30 years old. Rotaract is for people from 18 to 30 years old. There is also a club called Interact for children from 12 to 18 years old. The Rotary Club supervises the Rotaract and Interact.

The clubs are entirely volunteer organizations. "All of us are volunteers, and none of us gets paid. The people who are here are those who really want to help others," Chantelle told the Global Times.

Founded in 1905 in Chicago, in the US, the Rotary Club brings business and professional leaders together to serve their local communities. According to the website of the Rotary Club of Shanghai, Rotary International has 1.2 million members in 34,216 clubs worldwide. Rotaract has 204,102 members from 8,874 clubs around the world.

Currently, the Rotaract Club of Shanghai has about 20 expat members and about 20 local honorary members. When members of the Rotaract Club from different countries come to Shanghai, they can also join the local club's activities. According to Ma, Rotaract Shanghai has the most international visitors of all of the Rotaract clubs. "It is not only about the activities and volunteer work, but also about having a group of people who think the same," he said.

Chantelle said that the club is a good way for expats to get involved and participate in the community. Many expats can be isolated, especially when they come from different countries. "Rotaract is like a big family. For those who want to join, it's important to have a good heart and be dedicated to volunteering," she said.

Alexander R. Ma, former president of the Rotaract Club of Shanghai

 

Members of the Rotaract Club of Shanghai pose for a group photo at the Bund. Photos: Courtesy of the Rotaract Club of Shanghai