Youth Service

Youth Service is Rotary’s commitment to the future. By encouraging, mentoring, and empowering our youth today, we are creating a legacy that will allow Rotary to continue its mission to see that all men and women of this world are given the opportunity to lead their lives in health, safety and prosperity.

Scholarships

The club currently offers two scholarships:

  • Community Service Scholarships – for graduating seniors who demonstrate exemplary commitment to, and leadership in, community service.
  • Murdock Construction and Engineering Scholarships – for students who demonstrate a commitment to pursuing a career related to the building trades, architecture, or engineering.

We are also partnering with Olympic College on a Nursing Scholarship.

Read more about our scholarships.

Youth Food Insecurity

All Bainbridge Island schools have approximately 16 weeks per year of breaks. During these breaks, food from schools are no longer available to students. To address food insecurity, Rotary, in partnership with Helpline House, provides a weekly “Kids’ Pantry Bag” to any Bainbridge youth (ages 0-18) in need. Each bag contains food for approximately one week for one young person. Dedicated volunteers advertise these bags throughout the community, order food, pick it up from Safeway and deliver it to Helpline as well as to deliver to youngsters/families unable to pick up the food bags. Helpline is also working to get more of these youth signed up at Helpline so they may receive more benefits than just food.

Youth Exchange

Rotary Youth Exchange builds peace one young person at a time. Long-term exchanges last a full academic year. Students attend local schools and live with multiple host families.

Rotary clubs in more than 100 countries sponsor exchange students aged 15 – 19. Exchange students unlock their true potential to:

  • Develop lifelong leadership skills
  • Learn a new language and culture
  • Build lasting friendships with young people from around the world
  • Become a global citizen

Each year, the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island sends 1-2 qualifying students abroad and receives a student from another nation. We have sent students to Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East and received students from the four corners of our planet.

Youth Grants

Youth Grants is a program for funding and supporting young people who have developed projects they want to do to improve our local community.

We invite youth to apply, meet with them to discuss the project and if it meets the guidelines. We grant as little as $50 or as much as $1,000 to make helpful ideas developed by youth a reality. Once completed, we invite recipients to present the project’s success at a club meeting.

Read more about our youth grants.

RYLA

RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) is a leadership development program for young people who want to learn new skills, build confidence, and have fun. We send a select group of students each year to the RYLA weekend seminar held at Pacific Lutheran University.

RYLA participants benefit and learn to:

  • Build communication and problem-solving skills
  • Discover strategies for becoming a dynamic leader in their school or community
  • Learn from community leaders, inspirational speakers, and peer mentors
  • Unlock potential to turn motivation into action

Youth Protection

Rotary International strives to create and maintain a safe environment of all youth who participate in Rotary Activities. To the best of their ability, Rotarians, Rotarians’ spouses and partners, and other volunteers must safeguard the children and young people with whom they come into contact and protect them from physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.

The overarching goal of all our Youth Services programs is to ensure youth enjoy positive experiences in safe environments.

How is it implemented? Based on standards set by Rotary International, we strive to maintain the safety of all youth who participate in our programs by requiring members to pass criminal clearances and agree to principles for working with youth. Yearly training on youth protection awareness is offered at a club meeting.

Our Youth Protection Officer oversees the implementation of these requirements with an emphasis on best practices for the prevention of harm as well as immediate intervention when safety is being compromised.

It is our goal to create a Culture of Caring by:

  • Establishment of clear standards and policies
  • Enforcement of those standards and policies
  • Yearly training at a Club meeting
  • Making sure everyone understands their responsibilities
  • Pay attention to warning signs
  • Taking reports of inappropriate behavior and abuse seriously