Honoured and Sealed – Most Outstanding Fundraiser in Aid of Service

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another”
-Charles Dickens-

One of the most fundamental and precious human values is helping others. It is one of the principles we need to uphold at all times. We should always make time to help others, regardless of how busy we are or what issues we might be facing. Rotaractors raise funds with so many challenges and commitments to make others’ lives better at every stage of their lives. At the 32nd Rotaract District Training Assembly, the awards for “Most Outstanding Fundraiser in Aid of Service” category were awarded to three amazing fundraising initiatives as follows.

වඩාත්ම මූලික හා වටිනා මානව වටිනාකම්වලින් එකක් වන්නේ අන් අයට උපකාර කිරීමයි. එය අප සැම විටම රැකිය යුතු ප්‍රතිපත්තිවලින් එකකි. අප කෙතරම් කාර්යබහුල වුවත්, අප මුහුණ දෙන ප්‍රශ්න මොනවා ද යන්න නොසලකා අන් අයට උපකාර කිරීමට අප සැමවිටම කාලය ගත කළ යුතුය. Rotaractors ඔවුන්ගේ ජීවිතයේ සෑම අදියරකදීම අන්‍යයන්ගේ ජීවිත යහපත් කිරීමට බොහෝ  අභියෝග සහ කැපවීම් සමඟ අරමුදල් රැස් කරති. රො- ටරැක්ට් දිස්ත්‍රික් සමුළුවේදී, පහත දැ ක්වෙන පරිදි ” Most outstanding fundraiser in aid of service” සදහා   සම්මාන පිරිනමන ලදී.

மிக அடிப்படையான மற்றும் விலைமதிப்பற்ற மனித விழுமியங்களில் ஒன்று மற்றவர்களுக்கு உதவுவது. இது நாம் எல்லா நேரங்களிலும் கடைப்பிடிக்க வேண்டிய ஒரு கொள்கையாகும். நாம் எந்த சந்தர்ப்பத்திலும் மற்றவர்களுக்கு உதவ நேரம் ஒதுக்க வேண்டும். ரோட்டராக்டர்கள் பல சவால்கள் மற்றும் அர்ப்பணிப்புகளுக்கு மத்தியில் நிதி திரட்டி மற்றவர்களின் வாழ்க்கையை சிறப்பாக்குகிறார்கள். ரோட்டராக்ட் மாவட்டச் சபையில், “சேவைக்கு உதவுவதில் மிகச் சிறந்த நிதி திரட்டுபவர்” என்ற தலைப்பின் கீழ் பின்வரும் மூன்று அற்புதமான நிதி திரட்டும் முயற்சிகள் பாராட்டப்பட்டன.

Gold – Lend a Breath – Rotaract Club of University of Colombo, Faculty of Medicine

The University of Colombo Faculty of Medicine, along with the Alumni Association, Rotaract clubs, and Rotary Clubs, has launched an initiative “Lend a Breath” in an effort to raise money for Pulse Oximeters, which will let patients be treated at home.

In the first phase of the project “Lend a Breath”, a song performed as a dedication to the tireless healthcare workers. The song was also written, recorded, and released in an effort to raise awareness of the initiative and, ultimately, support healthcare professionals. The song’s music was given by four well-known Sri Lankan musicians, and its lyrics were provided by the Rotaractors of the faculty of medicine.

The second stage of the project, “Save a Life” was funded by donations from a number of groups, including the Rotaract Club of Colombo Heritage, the Rotary Club Capital City, as well as other organizations like the Colombo Medical School Alumni Association (CoMSAA), the Sri Lanka Medical Association’s (SLMA) COVID 247 Helpline system, and the Rotary Club Capital City. Under the direction of the Medical Officers of Health (MOH) offices and with assistance from the Sri Lankan Army, 360 pulse oximeters were purchased with the funds collected and distributed to two COVID-19 hotspot regions.

Many friends and family members were lost as a result of the pandemic. As a result, there was a current need for emotional support systems that included spiritual sensibility. In the sight of this, the Rotaract club of Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo organized a multi-religious memorial with the participation of the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Catholic Societies of the Medical Faculties of the University of Colombo and Sabaragamuwa as the third phase “Never Alone”. Over 200 people joined the session online via Zoom and the gathering included prayers from all religions, moving tales, speeches, and interfaith discourse that also supported the ideas of peace and harmony.

Silver – Hot Dog Showdown 2022 – Rotaract Club at Informatics Institute of Technology

“Hot Dog Showdown” has been the main initiative of the Rotaract Club at Informatics Institute of Technology for the past eight years. The initial Hot Dog Showdown event was conducted at the Informatic Institute of Technology more than ten years ago, and thousands of spectators and competitors have attended ever since. 

The club’s main community service initiative, “E-Mithudama,” which entails building and donating computer laboratories to kids who live in rural areas with few educational facilities, will get 100% of the earnings from “Hot Dog Showdown.”

Bronze- The Target – Rotaract club of faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo

This remarkable effort was carried out by the Community Service Avenue of RACUOCFMF with the goal of helping Advance Level students in the commerce stream to pass their final examination with excellent grades, and it was also concerned with raising funds to contribute to constructing the water distribution system and developing Naagala Sri Piyarathana Kanishta Vidyalaya, thereby improving the quality of life for the villagers in Naagala Village in Bibile, Monaragala District, and Uva Province under project “Gamwardhanaya”

 There were two phases to this project, and as the first phase of the project “Target” undergrads of the faculty of Management and Finance, the University of Colombo was selling a model question paper book which had seven question papers for the Advance Level Commerce Stream in English and Sinhala, covering the main three subjects such as Economics, Accounting, and Business Studies, and also General English. Over 500 copies were sold, and the proceeds were used to improve the lives of those villagers in desperate need.

In the second phase of the project, Rotaractors presented a series of seminars for the advanced level commerce stream students via the Zoom platform and their YouTube channel live, which attracted more than 18,000 views. The seminars were conducted by an experienced lecture panel along with the undergrads of the faculty of management and finance. More than 1500 students joined this lecture series. started in October 2021 with an impressive motivational session and continued for up to 25 sessions, covering accounting, business studies, and economics in both English and Sinhala.  There was also an “Exam Tips” session that was well-liked by the attendees to wrap up the series. They have partnered with Icon Business School as the primary educational partner, and Interact and Leo clubs have joined them, which  resulted in increasing the reach of the seminar series.

Thank you to all fellow clubs and fellow Rotaractors for providing us with the details necessary for this article. And thank you for being with us until the very last article of the series, “Honoured and Sealed”.