Jay Minor: Service Above Self
“Whatever Rotary may mean to us, to the world it will be known by the results it achieves,” said Paul Harris, the Chicago attorney who founded the first Rotary club in February 1905.
It’s a philosophy that resonates with Jay Minor, president of the Mission Viejo Rotary Club.
For Jay, a former pastor and now owner of Assisted Living Locators in Ladera Ranch, Rotary isn’t simply about attending weekly meetings or raising money. It’s about finding ways to serve others—and encouraging others to do the same. That spirit of service has been at the heart of his presidency and his effort to bring greater attention to the good work being done by the club’s approximately 35 members.
Mission Viejo Rotary: Giving Back Locally and Abroad
The club’s reach, of course, extends far beyond Mission Viejo. More than 1.4 million Rotarians around the world work on humanitarian projects, with one of the organization’s greatest accomplishments being its decades-long fight against polio. Working with the Gates Foundation and other partners, Rotary has helped reduce wild polio by 99.9% since 1988. Today, the disease remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
For Jay and his fellow Rotarians, service starts close to home. Over the past year, the Mission Viejo club has contributed to monthly food-bank distributions at the Norman P. Murray Community Center, provided Thanksgiving meals for seniors, awarded scholarships to help local high school students attend college, and supported the Esperanza Special Education Center/Adult Transition Program.
Sometimes, service also means looking beyond local borders. In July, the club supported the Rotary Club of Venezuela in providing relief and assistance to victims of two devastating earthquakes that struck the country. By early August, the official death toll had risen to more than 6,000, with approximately 61,000 people receiving medical attention.
Turning Fundraising Into Community Service
Helping others takes resources, so fundraising is an important part of the club’s mission. That’s why you’ll often find members selling beer and wine to attendees at events such as Symphony in the Cities/Prelude in the Park and Tuesdays on the Terrace at the Murray Center. The club’s annual Chili Cook-Off also raises thousands of dollars for local causes.
For Jay, the money is simply a means to an end. “Our club is a bunch of really good people,” he says. “We are incredibly blessed to live here in South Orange County, and we have members who are very generous in giving back to our community and helping those who are less fortunate.”
That may be the best description yet of Jay’s lifelong mission: using the good fortune of the community he loves to make life a little better for others.
People interested in joining the Mission Viejo Rotary Club are invited to attend the group’s weekly meetings every Wednesday at 7:15 AM in the conference room of the Fidelity Investments building, 27101 Puerta Real, Suite 100.
