Kennebunk Portside Rotary

Community Connections - Community Connections youth mentoring program is off to a great start in its seventh season. Twelve mentors and twelve mentees have been meeting twice a month since September, alternating large group meetings (usually at the YMCA) with small group activities (like bowling and pizza). This year we have six Portside Rotary mentors: Rand Gesing, Sue Gesing, Paul Rothman, Ron Karalus, Ki Lefler and Cornelia Stockman.

The young people are an energetic group and come from either Kennebunk Middle School or the Mildred Day School in Arundel. They are selected by school guidance staff for the program.

Career Day Speakers at KHS

Our very own club is honored and proud of our members and their many talents, skills and professions. We have connected with Kennebunk High School, through the guidance department to tap our professionals to participate in Career Day speaking events at KHS. Last year we offered a lunch discussion group between the speakers and the students. Lunches were provided and all donated by local establishments. This year, we are coordinating with the teachers and participating in the classroom so the teachers, students and speakers will benefit from this great effort. Looking forward to an interactive classroom setting.

INTERNATIONAL

Friends Forever – Northern Ireland Catholic and Protestant youth program
International Youth Exchange Programs
Vocational Group Study Exchange for young adults
Rotaplast – cleft lip and palate surgery teams for Central and S. America
Equipment for AIDS Clinic in South Africa
Water Pump Project in South Africa
Polio Plus Project

International Youth Exchange - 2008 we had an outgoing exchange student, Kayla Shepard from Kennebunk, Maine (daughter of Alan Shepard) and an incoming exchange student, Andrea Ventura Rubio from Puebla, Mexico. Kayla's exchange took her to Peru where she lived with a Spanish-speaking family - learning the culture, the country, and the language. Kayla participated in various community service venues, the biggest impact was helping the earthquake victims in Peru in 2008 - a very heartful experience for Kayla. Andrea spent her school year in the Kennebunks with 2 different families. One big experience for Andrea was the cold weather and skiing for the very first time. Both these students had fantastic experiences abroad. The host families had a wonderful experience, opening the homes and making these students a part of their families - we thank the families who participating.

Group Study Exchange - our club has been invovled hosting the GSE teams from other countries for the past few years. We have enjoyed the company of "teams" from Bahamas, Sweden, and Phillipines. Non-Rotarians are hosted by Rotary clubs throughout the world to share their insight and experiences of their professions and countries. We look forward to meeting this years' GSE team which is from Poland.