Erika Santiago grew up watching the positive impact her father, Joseph Santino, had on the community. An East Haven native, Erika and her family watched as he gave back, influencing her own involvement.

“As children, when we were growing up, anything that he did, he always took us with him with any type of thing that he did, giving back, helping people - every time you turned around, my dad was helping somebody, and he always had us with him,” says Erika. “We were just used to it. That was normal for us.”

Erika has carried on her father’s altruism as both a member of the East Haven Rotary Club and a recently reelected member of the Board of Education (BOE). She also passes along the importance of giving back and recognizing the needs of others in her community to her own children.

“My daughter has helped out for a number of years with the Rotary, like when we do the Thanksgiving dinners…my sons come with us,” says Erika.

She says it’s an “eye-opening” experience for her children to see the Rotary’s holiday acts of service, such as the Thanksgiving meal deliveries and curbside pick-ups, reminding them that not everybody is born with things like a hot meal to eat every night.

“Some people are very in need and less fortunate and right here in our community,” says Erika. “That’s the good part about the Rotary that it’s 100% helping, immediately, our residents, our students, our families. Everything is going straight back to East Haven.”

As always, the Rotary has been busy this time of year with the Thanksgiving dinners and the Breakfast with Santa pancake cook-up that took place on Dec. 9. The wintertime activities of the Rotary, in general, are some of Erika’s favorites.

“The Thanksgiving dinners and the Ben Mazzucco Clothe the Children are my two favorite events that the rotary does,” says Erika. “It’s great to be able to build these types of events and just watch them grow bigger and bigger each year.”

Erika is proud of being a part of the Rotary, especially the amount of help they can offer through donations from the community and to those community members as a group of 20 people, smaller compared to other similar clubs across the state.

“The amount of things that we make happen and the people that we impact, it’s amazing to see how many families get things fulfilled,” says Erika. “We really do create a lot of joy for this town.”

Being a part of the Rotary means having an unbiased opinion when considering how certain events and decisions will impact East Haven families, says Erika. That mindset continues to translate to what will be her fourth term sitting on the BOE.

Originally, being a parent informed her decision to run for the BOE seven years ago because “I wanted to be able to advocate for parents.” With children of her own who have attended East Haven district schools, Erika says she understands the challenges that parents and their students may have.

“I’m always gonna be a parent first. When they come to me, they know they’re talking to another mom, and I can understand it on that level.”

But similarly to the Rotary, being on the board comes down to helping out all people regardless of their socioeconomic status. Fortunately for Erika, being involved in both groups further informs how important it is to have that unbiased opinion to ensure that no family or student is left feeling unacknowledged or left behind.

“We have to make sure there is such a balance that every child feels equal,” says Erika. “[As] board members, we see more or less budgets and so forth, but everything has a ripple effect. So you know it’s going to trickle down and affect every child. We have to make sure that from the top to the lowest point, it is not affecting anyone in a negative way.”

For anyone who is looking to become more involved in their community and lend a helping hand, the Rotary is always looking for new members, says Erika.

“We meet every Thursday at the Twin Pines Diner and have applications for members to join right online on the Rotary website. We’re a welcoming group, and we’d love to grow our club.”

For more information about the East Haven Rotary Club, visit www.easthavenrotary.org.