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Rotary spends Thanksgiving with man’amko
The man’amko and Interact Club members share a table in fellowship during the Thanksgiving celebration by the Rotary Club at the Office on Aging on Nov. 29. (Michael T. Santos)
The Rotary Club of Saipan prepared and presented their annual Thanksgiving treat for the man’amko yesterday at the Office on Aging.
Members of the Rotary Club of Saipan, joined by Interact and Rotaract members, helped ladle out food, played games, and joined in fellowship with the island’s elderly.
Both Interact and Rotaract clubs encourage their members to go about and help serve the community. The Interact Club is for youth ages 12-18, while the Rotaract Club is meant for people 18 to 30 years of age.
Walter Manglona, director of the Office on Aging, said, “When it comes to inter-generation programs or inter-generation type of activity, being able to bring our elders with the youth is always a good thing. Our elders have this kind of responsibility to be the role models of the community and I just remind them that often, they are doing a great job.”
“Every year we see Rotarians, and again, we’re extremely grateful they are able to come no matter what; not to just host but to also spend time with our elders and show they care,” Manglona said.
Due to several health concerns, alternative dishes were also prepared yesterday.
“They do serve vegetables and stuff that are more on the leaner side. If the elderly want something that is extremely unhealthy, we always have other people around to advise our man’amko to only taste and not indulge,” Manglona said.
Ivan Ilmov, president of the Rotary Club on Saipan, said, “The Rotary has been doing Thanksgiving with the Office on Aging for the past 25 years. Because we aim to always serve above self, we do it every year. We really appreciate the man’amko because they have been serving the community for many years and we would like to pay them back.”
More than 45 Interact members from Kagman, around 20 from Marianas High School, Rotaract members from Northern Mariana College, and over 30 Rotary members joined yesterday’s outreach.
“Before we didn’t have the [Interact Club]. We just established it three years ago….When we serve at a young age, we can learn a lot of new things that would help make our world better in the long run,” said Ilmov.
