At the July 7 meeting, the Rotary Club of Greene & Putnam Counties welcomed its new president, Tina Hollcroft, and gratefully acknowledged the selfless service of immediate past president, Tom Cornelia.

Hollcroft is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and Georgia State University. She currently owns Lake House Rentals, a property management company on Lake Oconee, and is a real estate consultant with Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee. She has served on several boards as member and committee chairman and on committees of several industry groups. She currently serves on the Board of Alliance for Smiles, a nonprofit organization providing free cleft lip and palate surgeries around the world.

Hollcroft and her husband, Hal, own Barefoot Mountain Farms in North Carolina and supply numerous organizations with Christmas trees and wreaths for fundraising during the holiday season. They have operated a retail lot benefiting an inner city school in Atlanta for 13 years. They live at Reynolds Plantation on Lake Oconee.

Tina, Tom and their fellow Rotarians in Greene & Putnam Counties exemplify the humanitarian spirit of the more than 1.2 million members worldwide who strive to make our world a better place. We know why being a Rotarian is so special:

• When Bill and Melinda Gates support Rotary’s effort to end polio by giving $355 million for polio eradication.

• When we provide books to 0-5 year olds in our community to help improve childhood literacy.

 • When we see and/or hold a child after a cleft lip or palate repair and they smile through the pain, but you know you have made a difference in the life and lives of their family. This is Alliance for Smiles and we are proud to play a part.

• When we participate in our clubs community service project, Second Harvest, and once a month distribute thousands of pounds of food to the less fortunate in our community.

These are just a few things that make grateful to be Rotarians.