Mondeor Rotarian leads with purpose in third term as president

For Johannesburg resident and long-standing Rotarian Clifford Alexander, service is about more than simply giving. It is about helping people build better lives for themselves.

Alexander, who lives in Mondeor, is serving his third term as president of the Rotary Club of Johannesburg.

The club holds its meetings in Auckland Park and represents Johannesburg, although its community projects stretch far beyond the city.

Its members come from different parts of Johannesburg and surrounding areas.

Alexander joined Rotary in 2014 after leaving the corporate world the previous year. Looking for a new way to spend his time, he decided that giving back to others was the path he wanted to take.

“I was financially okay, so I thought maybe it’s time to pay it forward,” he said.

He made enquiries with three organisations, but Rotary was the only one that responded. After attending what Rotary calls a ‘fireside chat’, he joined the organisation. Two years later, he was nominated to become president.

His first term was during the 2016/17 Rotary year. His current term is his third, after he stepped in last year when the club’s president was unable to continue. Now, after 13 years as a Rotarian, Alexander says the experience has continued to remind him why community service matters.

“It’s the smile on people’s faces when you have helped them,” he said.

From small acts to lasting change

One of the projects that has stayed with Alexander involved children in Mookgophong, Limpopo, where a local ministry provides after-school care.

The ministry was started by a couple who wanted to support children in a rural community. Many of the children did not have fathers at home, with some parents working outside the province or otherwise absent. The children receive food and help with their schoolwork after school.

The project began when the ministry asked Alexander whether Rotary could help provide toys. Some of the children had never received a toy as a present.

What started with a few dozen children grew over several years. Rotary members collected toys, while additional donations came through other toy drives. When the bikers arrived with the toys, the wider community would gather around them.

“In our first year, we ended up giving out about 100 toys,” Alexander said. “It grew to 200 and eventually, after five years, it was 500.”

The project also included Christmas shoeboxes containing useful items. For young girls, the boxes included personal hygiene products such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and sanitary pads.

The project eventually had to stop because of rising fuel costs, toll fees and the cancellation of a larger toy drive. For Alexander, however, the memories remain.

“When you see how happy those kids and their parents are because they’ve got a little toy, that is what drives you to do more,” he said.

Helping communities

One of the club’s largest ongoing projects is its education programme, which supports school-going learners. The project assists with hundreds of thousands of rands in educational support each year with funding coming through a trust as well as Rotary fundraising.

Learners can receive help with school fees, uniforms, books and, in some cases, food and taxi fares.

A learner who joins the programme in Grade Eight can receive support until matric, provided they continue to pass.

“The only condition is they have to pass,” Alexander explained. “The moment they fail, we fill that space with another deserving learner.”

The aim is to give young people an opportunity to complete school and improve their future prospects.
Alexander’s work with Rotary has also allowed him to support communities closer to home.

A keen biker, he became involved in projects that helped people repair homes they could no longer afford to maintain.

Having grown up in the Johannesburg area, he had always wanted to do something for people in his own community. Through Rotary, he helped repair homes in different areas, including Noordgesig, Horseshoe and Randfontein. The work included painting, repairing ceilings and fixing outside toilets.

For Alexander, the projects show how community connections can lead to practical assistance.

“I got to fulfil something on my bucket list because of Rotary,” he said.

Building young leaders

Youth development is another important part of the club’s work. Alexander is preparing for a Rotary youth empowerment camp for Grade Eight, Grade 11 and Grade 12 learners in the Hartbeespoort area.

The camp focuses on leadership and encourages young people to think about how they can become leaders in their own communities.

Alexander remembers one young person from Thembisa who attended the camp with Rotary’s support and later returned to speak about the experience.

“She gave such a powerful and dynamic speech about what it did for her,” he said.

For Alexander, the experience showed that leadership can begin with learning how to lead oneself.

A president focused on partnerships

As president, Alexander oversees the running of the club and its projects but his main focus for his current year is partnerships. He believes working with businesses, community organisations and other groups can help Rotary reach more people.

“That is my vision for my year – partnerships,” he added.

He has already started developing new partnerships and is looking for more organisations that can work with Rotary on community projects.

Fundraising remains an important part of that work. The club is planning a golf day on October 2 to raise money for its projects. Alexander said organising fundraising events takes time but the need is constant.

“The more money we have, the more people we can help,” he said.

Looking ahead

After 13 years with Rotary and three terms as president, Alexander’s focus remains firmly on building relationships that can expand the organisation’s impact. He believes the club cannot help everyone who approaches it, but partnerships can create more opportunities to assist those in need.

People interested in learning more about the Rotary Club of Johannesburg or getting involved can visit the club’s website: rcjohannesburg.org.za