Members of the Interact Club assisted the YMCA the weekend before Christmas by helping people pick out and carry trees to their cars and then cleaning up branches that fell from Christmas trees as they were tied to the vehicles.

Interact is a community service club that allows students to partake in volunteer opportunities. The club branches down from the larger organization known as the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club is an international service organization with the motto “service above self.” The club has been active for 110 years and formed over 200 countries. The Rotary Club’s main goal is to provide humanitarian services and encourage peace around the world.

Mandy Rosengren, the president of the Interact Club, helped out Sunday, Dec. 13, from 1-5 p.m.

“It was a lot of fun to sell the trees but it was also a lot of physical work,” Rosengren said.

The volunteers had to take the different Christmas trees from out of a wooden stake, cut the stump of the tree to the customer’s desired length, put netting over the tree and then bring it out to the customer’s car.

There were around seven other kids with Rosengren from different schools. Some were from Ridgewood High School and others were from other local schools. In addition, some employees from the YMCA and a member of the Rotary Club helped out. 

All the trees were displayed in one of the parking lots of the Ridgewood YMCA. People who still needed to buy a tree could park their car and look around for the perfect tree. In addition to trees, the YMCA also sold wreaths with lights and bows.

During the month of January, Interact will be collecting jeans for homeless teens through the Teens for Jeans drive. Interact will also be hosting its annual Interact Fashion Show and running a food drive at the Ridgewood Food Pantry once a month.