The Rotary Club of Windsor 1918 has a new president.
Former Windsor police officer Gerry Pocock has been selected to hold the position for the next year.
Pocock says it has been a challenging time during the COVID-19 pandemic, but outgoing president Gord Faas has the club well positioned to continue local fundraising and international projects on the go.
He says it's time to start thinking outside the box.
"We had to cancel Art in the Park and we've also had to cancel our Children's Fest which is usually around mid-September," says Pocock. "So funding will be a challenge. We will try to attract more funding and look at various ways that that can happen. It will certainly be a challenge."
He says efforts in Ghana and Tanzania should not impacted.
"The money that we put forward, usually we get grants from our district as well as Rotary International, " says Pocock. "So we can turn $10,000 into $30,000 with funding from other sources."
He believes the club can come out of the pandemic stronger than before.
"I'm looking forward to it, to make the club stronger and with more vitality than we had before," says Pocock. "I think the opportunity is there. As challenges often do, they create opportunities and we'll be looking to capitalize on those opportunities."
Pocock has been with Rotary since 1999 and got involved with the club when it proposed the plan to build the Children's Safety Village on Forest Glade Dr.
- with files from AM800's Rob Hindi