A fruit platter with love in Rajkot
In a spirited drive spreading love and bonding, 40 volunteers including 7–8 members from the Rotaract Club of Rajkot, RID 3060, distributed fruit platters to 3,000 individuals and pet animals at the underserved communities across many areas of this city in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.
Project Gratitude in Action is a one-day field visits to the deprived colonies of Rajkot like the Mahua area, Kalawad Road and the city outskirts where families struggle to eke out a decent living. “We tied up with Fruit Cart, a mobile vendor of fruit juices and vegetables, and invited volunteers for the project well in advance to form eight teams which were guided by the lead Rotaract team on where to go, and how to distribute the foot platters to the marginalised people,” says Dimple Naik, club president. The project teams fanned out across the city to distribute vitamin-rich fruits arranged nicely in a papier-mâché bowl with lid.
The Rotaractors were joined by members of the Interact Club of Wadi, the Robin Hood Army, Rajkot, and the Wing Foundation, a local NGO, in the fruit distribution. “We started at dawn, around 5.30am, procured fruits from the Fruit Cart, chopped them all, and neatly arranged them in the papier-mâché bowls. Then we set out in all directions as teams to reach out to the poor communities,” explains Dimple. Though the club has been doing the project for the last 4–5 years in a small manner, “only this time we have taken up the fruit distribution on such a mega scale, both in planning and execution.”
Project Behind the Mask has taken up mental health awareness campaign on social media for men Rotaractors.
Project Stree
Since July 2024, Project Stree has distributed over 10,000 sanitary pads to girl students across 12 government schools with the aim to reduce the dropout ratio among them under Phase-1. “Parents advise their wards to drop out from schools if they find it difficult to cope with menstruation woes,” says Dimple. She led a Rotaract team to engage students on how to tackle the “social taboos and stigmas linked with periods and the need to continue school education, the key to a successful life with professional career.” Even parents were addressed by Rotaractors on the need to continue their girls’ education.
Under Phase-2 of Project Stree, over 15 girls have recounted their experience of overcoming the challenges, both at home and school, during menstruation through short video clips. Now in Phase-3, more than 70 Rotaractors from RIDs 3060, 3131, 3040, 3055, 3170 and 3220 (Colombo) have narrated their ‘My First Period Story’ through social media posts along with their pictures. “We are in talks with Rotaractors from other countries including Nepal and Egypt to join our menstrual hygiene campaign to make this project a global endeavour,” explains Dimple.
The project teams fanned out across the city to distribute vitamin-rich fruits arranged nicely in a papier-mâché bowl with lid.
On the other side of the gender divide, Project Behind the Mask has taken up mental health awareness campaign on social media for men Rotaractors. “We have just started this mental wellness initiative and till now, seven Rotaractors from our district have uploaded their social media post narrating the way they tackled health issue challenges with their pictures above the write-up,” she explains. “We will be expanding the social media post on mental health for Rotaractors from other districts too.”
Next, the Rajkot club is planning to conduct physical sessions for district Rotaractors on how to cope with mental health issues like stress, anxiety and depression with expert counsellors and psychiatrists giving motivational talks. A business consultant, Dimple has been a Rotaractor for the last five years, and “in the next Rotary year, 2025–26, I will join my parent club, RC Rajkot, to expand my service activity and range,” she smiles.
