New Rotary president inducted
To become a Rotarian, a person has to be introduced to the club by a Rotarian.
Passionate Rotarian Jay Rumsander took over the reins as president of Amanzimtoti Rotay Club from Chris Skinner and his focus during his one-year presidency is to grow the club’s membership base, which is currently only 10.
Jay was a member of the Isipingo/Prospecton club for 26 years and served as president for two terms in 1996 and 2006, before the club amalgamated with Morningside.
As a Toti resident, it was easier to join the Toti club, then attend the new club’s meetings in Durban.
“I’ve known Chris for many years,” said Jay. “He asked me to become a member of the Toti club two years ago and said then I would be the next president.
Although we are a small club, our members are hardworking and focussed.” He speakly highly of past presidents, Aneska du Pont and Chris and their drive to make a difference in their community.
Jay is married to Priscilla and is fortunate to have his two sons and daughter working alongside him at his engineering business in Prospecton.
He enjoys golf, deep sea fishing and motorbiking.
“Our pet project since I joined the club has been Mother of Peace (MOP) and I’m proud to say the general manager, Iris Canham became a member of our club two months ago.”
For Mandela Day the club sold beaded bangles and stuffed elephants to raise funds for MOP.
Jay, who turns 67 next month, did charity work before joining Rotary and admits it is his passion. He is a staunch supporter of Child Welfare Chatsworth.
“Our club celebrated its 50th aniversary two months ago. I am now focussed on a free health programme we will run in the near future, which is a district project.
Early childhood development is also Rotary’s main global focus and our club is on a drive to raise R1-million for child development over the next 18 months.
But Rotary is not only serious, we enjoy fellowship and try to have some fun. With Toti being such a small club, we are close-knit. For me, we are one big family and everyone has a common goal. The spin-off is we assist the underprivileged.
Our members have been Rotarians for many years and they don’t need much guidance from their president to head up their sections.”
To become a Rotarian, a person has to be introduced to the club by a Rotarian and their CV gets circulated among members before they are inducted into the club and presented with their Rotary pin and identity number, which is recorded in its head office in Illinois, USA.
“Rotary is my passion. I’ve been involved in all avenues of service, but my favourite was international services,” said Jay.
“Priscilla and I have had the privilege of hosting 12 exchange students as part of Rotary’s youth exchange programme. We have also hosted a Group Study Exchange programme team and friendship exchange from India.
We have attended the weddings of two of our exchange students in India and Turkey and we still keep in contact with them.”
