After a bit of a forced break, due to the pandemic, the Rotary Club of Fonthill is once again ready to celebrate the humanitarian contributions of the Pelham community through the Paul Harris Fellowship Awards.

The Paul Harris Fellowship Award is one of the highest honours Rotary can bestow upon a person. Recipients are Rotarians and community professionals, in recognition of their outstanding contributions, exemplifying the highest ideal in Rotary, which is “Services above Self.”

This honour accompanies a donation of $1,000 or more, in the recipient’s name, to Rotary International’s “Annual Program Fund,” which supports Rotary’s world-wide programs centred on saving and enhancing lives by providing educational programs, food, potable water, health care, immunizations, shelters for millions of people, good environmental practices, and peace centres. The activities are funded, implemented and managed by Rotarians and Rotary clubs around the globe, including our own Rotary Club of Fonthill.

The club is therefore currently seeking nominations from within its Rotary membership, but also from the wider Pelham/Niagara community as well.

Individuals who have earned this honour in the past include teachers who have run after-school programs; volunteers from Pelham Cares; neighbourhood builders such as the principals behind the myPelham online community; and business owners who give of their time and financial resources to make life better for those in need. Though not a necessity, this year’s nominees may very well be considered for the way in which they have impacted others’ lives in response to the pandemic.

The club is planning for at least 4 Paul Harris Fellowships to be awarded in November, and so is seeking nominations right now. The deadline to send a nomination – providing a name and a paragraph outlining why the individual is being nominated – is Oct. 27.

For more information and detailed background on the Paul Harris Fellowship, visit the Rotary International website. <https://www.rotary.org/en/history-paul-harris-fellow-recognition>

To nominate an individual, or find out more about the local nomination process, please contact Annie Holtby, Rotary Club of Fonthill Foundation Chair, at holtbyannie@gmail.com.