Celebrating 50 years as members of the Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn

Benoni residents Rhoda Toker (71) and Gill Davey (76) have been members of the Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn since its inception in 1971.

Rhoda and Gill are the only two living charter members. They have both received the Paul Harris Award, which is the highest award in Rotary.

Both their husbands were founding members of the Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn and Paul Harris members.

The philanthropists have always lived according to the Rotary motto of service above self.

They said it has been 50 years of steady giving to the community in whichever way possible, and giving is essential to them.

ALSO READ: 

Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn hands over rooms to cancer patients

Rhoda:

• She joined Rotary at the age of 21.

• She was the Rotary Anns president in 1991 when her husband, Martin, was the Rotary president.

• She has been part of the Beautiful Gardens and ran the tea garden for the past 22 years.

• She started the Garland Ladies Luncheon Club with eight other women and was involved in other committees.

• Her daughter, Kim Toker, was a Rotary exchange student.

Rhoda said when Rotary started, it was a men’s only club. However, the wives would automatically become Rotary Anns if they wanted to.

“Our club was different from the others because we were very involved in whatever projects the men did,” said Rhoda.

“Only a few years later, women were introduced into the club as Rotarians.”

She said they have had several successful projects over the years, such as wine festivals, musical evenings at Gill’s house and the Beautiful gardens, which enabled them to give a lot more.

“When the pandemic started, all the Anns made masks to sell so we can raise funds and buy the soup ingredients which were donated to the less fortunate,” she said.

Some of her fondest memories with the club she said was the fellowship and support she receives from the club, especially when her husband died 10 years ago.

“Other highlights are running the tea garden at Beautiful Gardens for 22 years, being involved in the student exchange programme and being a counsellor for incoming and outgoing students,” said Rhoda.

Gill:

• She joined the club at the age of 25.

• She became president of the Rotary Anns after 35 years with the club in 2009.

• She has been president of the Anns about five times on a four-month basis.

• She was the club’s treasurer for about 10 years.

• She is the district governor Ann representative for District 9400.

• Her daughter, Megan Davey, was a Rotary exchange student.

• Her late husband, Brian, built the Thembi Crèche in Etwatwa.

Gill highlighted some of their successful projects was knitting dolls for Alzheimer’s patients in old age homes and Ithemba Crisis Pregnancy Centre in Springs.

“Another project is the Knitted Knockers, which are handmade prosthetic breasts for women who had mastectomies. They are then donated to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital,” she said.

She said they all consider each other as family; we are always there for each other.

“When my house caught fire a few years back, just after sharing the message the Anns and retired Rotarians came to lend a helping hand. I didn’t have anything to worry about; it was amazing to see how we look after each other,” she said.

“The feeling of knowing you belong is priceless. It has been 50 years of friendship, love and caring for each other.”

Rhoda and Gill said they are looking forward to raising more money to continue serving the community and they encouraged young people to join the club.

ALSO READ: 

Rotary Club of Benoni Van Ryn welcomes two new presidents