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otaract Club of Chennai Celebrities — a community-based club chartered by RC Chennai Celebrities in September 2021 in RID 3232 — is an enthusiastic team of 90 members led by its president A Vinodh Chiranjeevi and secretary Yaser Yase Ya serr Ahmed. Ahme Ah med. d. The The cl club ub b hhas as a ‘‘branch b an br a chh club’ club cl lub’ b’ wi with th 226 6 members in Pondicherry another P ndicherry and anothe Po h r one onne is is being beiing ng worked wor o ke k d ou outt in Madurai. “This is a
36 ROTARACT NEWS JANUARY 2022
new club model and the setup is like a corporate having branches in various places,” says Chiranjeevi, adding that there is no separate president/ secretary in the branches. “We assist them with the functioning but they manage the fundraising andd id identify y sservice ervice their own.” pprojects pr ojjec ects ts oon n th thei eirr ow own n.”” The club has its own office the of ffi fice in th he hheart eartt off Chennai, Chen Ch enna naii, ““aa ra na rare re ffeature eatu ea ture re for any Rotaract ct cclub. lub. lu b.
Rotaractors from other clubs too drop in to just relax and chat with us over a cup of tea or organise their meetings here,” he says. ‘No food wastage’ is the club’s signature project. The members, having developed a rapport with managers of marriage/ party halls, collect excess food from social, religious events, arrange a vehicle and distribute it to street dwellers, ragpickers and beggars. “We celebrate our birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions by distributing food to the underprivileged.” The club distributes groceries and had recently provided `2,000 worth groceries to 30 families whose income was affected following the long Covid-induced
lockdown and the monsoons later. During the floods in November the Rotaractors braved the rains and rescued people stranded in their homes to safer places, and also distributed packed food. Pet lovers of the club got together to provide about 25kg food to stray animals.
