"Giving has always been a part of my life. I can't imagine any other way to go," said Kaiser, 49, Recreation Supervisor for the City of Brentwood and Rotary member since 1999. The service club garners and distributes $70,000 a year to local charitable organizations, and has more than 70 members.
"What I love about the Rotary," added Kaiser, "is that it's making the community a great place for everyone to live in." His goal this year is to get all of the organization's members involved in as many projects as possible.
Raised in Sacramento, Kaiser met his wife, Nancy, in college at Sacramento State University. She, too, is a director of Parks and Recreation, for the City of Oakley. "We both majored in the same subject and have the same degrees," he said.
Their two kids are Scott, 19, a freshman at California Polytechnic State University, and Stacey, 16, a junior at Heritage High School.
High on the Rotarians' giving list are high school students. Through the Interact Club, they teach students what Rotary is all about. Camp Royal and Camp Venture provide teens leadership training and experience, and each year Interact teams up with the humanitarian organization Corazon Project to build homes in Tijuana, Mexico.
Rotary defines the word "giving" in more ways than one. Every year the organization makes sure every local third grader has a free, new, hardbound dictionary. Rotary also gives high school scholarships and supports the Liberty and Heritage High School Athletic Booster Clubs.
"We do fund-raisers every year like the beer booth at the CornFest, the Golf Tournament, and the Trade Club and Comedy Show the third Saturday in October," he said. "I believe the Rotary is one of the largest and oldest service clubs of professional men and women in the world. There are 130,000 clubs worldwide."
Kaiser was amazed to find several of them when he traveled to Santiago, Chile.
"Pretty much any town you go to, you'll find one. It's an incredible organization; the sheer numbers involved are amazing. You get a sense of camaraderie wherever you go, and the folks here at the Brentwood Club are fabulous," said Kaiser.
As current president, Kaiser's job is to make sure the club accomplishes its yearly goals. He started out as the newsletter guy, graduated to treasurer, made Rotarian of the Year in 2005, and was asked to be president this year.
This year, he said, Jeff Schults made Rotarian of the Year.
"He was involved in numerous activities with the Interact Club. He made sure it happened, spent tons of personal time going to San Francisco soup kitchens and Mexico with the kids," said Kaiser. "He's well respected in the club."
Also well respected is Brett Morey, who made Humanitarian of the Year, a new award created by out-going president Greg Robinson.
"He's a great guy; young professional with a young family," Kaiser said of Morey. "He's very dedicated to the community. He took the Katrina fund and ran with it. He decided to send things down there and rallied the troops. This man went way above and beyond what anyone else would've done."
When Kaiser's not working his day job or Rotarian job, he's out playing golf with a handicap of "we won't go there," snow skiing, gardening "low-maintenance plants only," and spending time with his family.
Living with his family in Brentwood and its comfortable, hometown feel is what makes his job as giver, organizer, father and husband very easy.
"It's a great hometown community; people are so friendly here," he said. "You walk down the street and people say 'hi' to you. I didn't get that in Sacramento, because the city was too big. Here it's a very unique city. It's about the people, those who take pride in their community and share with others.
"I think a lot of us are fortunate and we take things for granted," he added. "Some don't, and if you can provide, do so, because you are setting examples as role models for those coming up. Leaders don't just happen."
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