The Rotary Club of Selma members were all smiles Monday afternoon as they inducted Jerria Martin as the new president of the organization. Martin, who has been a member for almost three years, said she is delighted to take on the new role.

“I’m humbled to know that I stand on the shoulders of these giants that have been members for 30 or 40 years,” Martin said.

Martin said the involvement and initiatives with local youth are her favorite things the organization has done in the community. She said, as a youth, she even benefited from the organization’s youth involvement.

“One initiative that touched me and made me want to come back was the scholarship contest,” she said. “I won it in high school as a senior, and it helped me pay for my books. When I came back home from Princeton to Selma, I just knew that Rotary was something I wanted to be involved in.”

Martin said she looks up to the Rotarians because they are some of the community’s business leaders, and are making strides to better the community in several different ways.

David McCormack, CEO of Vaughan Regional Medical Center and former Rotary president, said it was a pleasure to hand the gavel over to Martin.

McCormack served as president for one year and has full confidence that Martin will make him proud as his successor.

“She’s so refreshing, I just love hanging out with her,” he said. “She’s so positive and just geared towards making everything better. She’s gonna do such a fantastic job, just as she does in everything else that she does.”

McCormack said Martin’s proven commitment to the community is one of the things he admires most about her, and is happy to see how she will bring that same commitment to Rotary.

“Her whole mission in life is to improve the Selma and Dallas County community,” McCormack said. “She wants to make this whole place better. Every decision she makes and everything that she does is geared towards improving the lives of people in the community.”

Martin was destined to lead the Rotary Club, and McCormack said he is happy to see it come to fruition.

“I’ve known Jerria for a few years, and she’s so energetic and so committed to this community,” McCormack said. “I know that God brought her back to this community, and we are very blessed to have her.”