Past President Andrew Bandler welcomed many Rotarians, guests, past Paul Harris recipients and today's recipients, recognizing their generosity, service above self and making a difference in our community. The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute or who have contributions made in their name of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. Rotary established the recognition in 1956 to encourage and show appreciation for substantial contributions to what was then the Foundation's only program, the Rotary Foundation Fellowship for Advanced Study, the precursor to Ambassadorial Scholarships. Early Paul Harris Fellows received a certificate of recognition. At the International Assembly in 1979, incoming RI President James Bomar challenged each Rotary club to make one non-Rotarian a Paul Harris Fellow. The Rotary Club of Pikesville, Maryland responded by making a donation in the name of Mother Teresa in 1980. Many other notable figures have been named Paul Harris Fellows, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. astronaut James Lovell, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and polio vaccine developer Jonas Salk. The number of Paul Harris Fellows reached the 1 million mark in 2006. This evening, the Rotary Club of Belleville will be recognizing three (3) local residents who will be awarded a Paul Harris Community Award. Andrew Bandler recognized past recipients in the audience -- Ryan Williams, Maurice Rollins, June Ricard and Patricia Guernsey..
In 2013 Rotarian Chris Finkle identified an annual community event that he felt required the assistance of the Rotary Club of Belleville. Historically for over 130 years, the Salvation Army has manned the Christmas Kettles for their campaign from mid-November to December 24th. Chris connected with Rotarian Jamie Trudeau and together they proposed to then President Paul Vandegraaf and the Board, to ask Rotarians to step up to this volunteer opportunity. The Rotary Club of Belleville was the first area service club to participate in the campaign and soon thereafter, other service organizations followed. In the third year of assisting, Rotary was able to secure the LCBO Quinte Mall location, the busiest location of the campaign. The Salvation Army provides an incentive to the service clubs for their participation -- the largest grossing kettle for the campaign period receives the "Bell Ringer Award" which Rotary won for 2016 and 2018. Todate, Rotary has volunteered in excess of 1,000 hours of service and assisted in raising in excess of $50,000. Chris was excited to nominate Deborah Scott, Salvation Army Kettle Co-Ordinator as a Paul Harris Community Fellow for 2019. Debbie works at the Salvation Army Family Services building on Pinnacle Street and in 2018, the Salvation Army provided 23,430 lunches at their lunch program, distributed 400 winter coats to those in need, assisted 8,169 people at their food bank, sent 30 kids to camp and provided 11,400 meals in their Warm Room that operates every night from November 15th to March. Debbie was humbled and overwhelmed to receive the award and having been a single parent herself, she understands the needs of people in the community, a safe place with no judgement, providing friendship and compassion. That is what the Salvation Army provides in our community. Debbie has worked hard to build strong partnerships with businesses and organizations in the community as well as service clubs such as the Rotary Club. These partnerships ensure a successful campaign so the Salvation Army can continue to give HOPE today and every day.
President-Elect Tim McKinney had the pleasure of introducing a very special couple who have given of their time and effort for over 25 years to the City of Belleville. Dwane and Carol Barratt have been life-long residents of Quinte and have owned and operated Barratt's Office Pro in downtown Belleville and in Brighton. They took over Barratt's Stationary from Dwane's parents and have been in their store in Belleville since 1961. Dwane has been a member of the Belleville Downtown Improvement Association for several years and is a past Chair and a current Director. Both Dwane and Carol have a passion for making the downtown a better place and the Directors and staff at BDIA have been gaining traction recently with Marijo Cuerrier at the helm and Kelsey Moniz putting in place some great new ideas. It was Dwane's birthday yesterday so this is a great way to continue his celebration and recognize him and Carol. They have been involved with the Canada Day celebration since 1992 and on July 1, 2017, then Mayor Taso Christopher honoured them as having spearheaded the event for 25 years. Dwane and Carol have been giving back to this community for over 27 years and continue to enjoy and give back to the Quinte area. Dwane was the spokesperson to thank Rotary for this special recognition on behalf of himself and Carol. The Barratts' commitment to throwing Canada Day bashes started in the late 1980's when Dwane and Carol were members of the Quinte JC's (Junior Chamber of Commerce). They also took on Santa Claus Parades and events like the Citizen of the Year Award. The Barratts are proud of their civic accomplishments and so they should be! They both feel service to humanity is the best you can give in life.
President Doug Peterson congratulated the recipients and reminded everyone of the Rotary theme this year "Rotary Connects the World" and through the Community Paul Harris awards, Rotary is connected with people in the community such as Deborah Scott, Dwane Barratt and Carol Barratt.