Faced with the problem of keeping track of all the school-age children using its Sequim and Port Angeles facilities, officials from the local Boys & Girls Clubs called upon the Sequim Noon Rotary Club for help - and got it.

Executive Director Bob Schilling proposed a plan to Rotary Club president Dave Collins that would expand upon the KidTrax digital membership management system used at the Teen Club in the Carroll C. Kendall Unit in Sequim. Collins asked Rotarian Victor Samisoni to oversee a $5,000 matching grant from Rotary District 5020 to put the system in the rest of the Sequim unit and in the Mount Angeles Unit in Port Angeles.

The computerized KidTrax system is used to keep personal and emergency contact information for the nearly 900 children using the clubs. Each club member receives a plastic membership card displaying the Rotary International logo, a unique bar-code number and the member's photograph.

When members enter or exit the club, they pass their card through a scanner. If a parent calls to see if their child checked in after school, club personnel can look at the computer record and tell them the exact time the student arrived. If a child has an accident, the club supervisor need only scan the membership card to see all of their emergency data. The cards also can be used to check out sports and game equipment.

For more information about Rotary Club community service projects, call 460-7465 or go online to www.sequim noonrotary.org.