Bonding over a football game
Every year a one-day football tournament is hosted by RAC Borivali Heights, RID 3141, that attracts school, college and working professionals’ teams across age groups to win the RCBH trophy and prize money. “We aim to unite communities and foster goodwill through football as the RCBH tourney draws competitive teams from across Mumbai; and this time, we had teams from Pune too. Out of 24 contesting teams, the winner got a trophy with a prize money of ₹10,000, while the runner-up was given a smaller trophy with a purse of ₹6,000,” says Yash Goda, club president.
The fundraiser, RCHB 5.0, mobilised around ₹50,000 which will be used to provide scholarships to meritorious students from less privileged families and to hold a series of seminars and workshops at the Swami Vivekanand High School, Dahisar, in East Mumbai.
The football matches held at the Players Turf, Goregaon West, saw a large number of spectators cheering the teams and the organising team of Rotaractors took care of logistics and coordination which were handled by project chairpersons Rtrs Aryan and Shrey, both mentored by Rtr Rohit. “With the amount raised, we are providing the school fees of 30 poor students; and had hosted a couple of workshops on personality development and ‘good touch, bad touch’ for children at the Swami Vivekanand School,” says Goda.
A seminar on Mandala art, a series of abstract circular designs that aims to promote inner peace, was also held in which students were taught on the fine skills required for this aesthetic drawing, sketches and mural painting. “We will be holding a dance competition for students in the near future,” he says.
Mental health seminar
Dr Siddhi Khapre, psychologist, gave a talk at a mental health seminar, titled ‘Matters of the mind,’ co-hosted by the club, with the participation of 35 Rotaractors. The importance of having a sound mind through a healthy lifestyle and life-work balance was emphasised at the seminar.
Around 50 units of blood was collected at the blood donation camp, named Geetanjali, organised jointly with parent Rotary, RC Borivali East, and donated to a private hospital. “We have plans to honour at least a dozen youth with Yuva Puraskar Awards in the third quarter of this Rotary year. And we have started work to identify youngsters who had achieved big success or contributed immensely to the society for the awards,” explains Goda.
In his third year at Rotaract, Goda, an IT data analyst, is happy with the steady progress of his seven-year-old club in the overall performance metrics in RID 3141. While in 2021–22, they got 25th rank among Rotaract clubs in the district, “we jumped to 13th rank last year and are confident of reaching the top five positions by the end of this year.”
Regular brainstorming, review sessions and planning at the bimonthly club meetings have contributed to the success of their service projects, he says. With the growing visibility of the club, two of their members are now part of the District Rotaract’s core team, and DRR-elect Nikhita Sunil is an active member of RCBH. While Goda is eager to become a Rotarian, he says, “I will join a Rotary club only after I get settled in my life and career with a good financial stability.”
