Q:Congratulations on becoming the new Rotary International president for 2007-08! Is there something about you that not many people know?

I have a deep belief in volunteering, which I learned at an early age. Many people know this, but what they might not know is how I got involved with volunteering. Nowadays, community service is mandatory in some schools, but that wasn’t so back when I was in school in Canada. I first got involved with volunteering through the Canadian Boy Scouts, beginning at age 11½. I was a Boy Scout for eight years. I worked my way up to a King Scout, which is the equivalent to an Eagle Scout in the United States.

The Boy Scouts played an important part in laying the groundwork for me to get involved in community activities and later to accept an invitation to join Rotary. Rotary now offers programs like Interact, Rotaract, Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, and Rotary Youth Exchange, which allow young people to develop an interest in their community and hopefully become Rotarians.

Community service is one of the best ways I know of to do our part to make the world a better place for our children and grandchildren. We share our love through community service — because service to the community is at the heart of Rotary. Don’t pass up the chance to use the opportunity Rotary provides to make a difference.