The month of November is Rotary Foundation month. Rotary Foundation started out as a vision of one man, Paul Percy Harris, a Chicago attorney. He was best known for founding Rotary International in 1905. In 1957 the Paul Harris Fellows program was established to show appreciation for and encourage substantial contributions to what was then the Rotary Foundation. In 1979, Rotary International President James Bomar challenged each Rotary Club to make one non-Rotarian a Paul Harris Fellow. The Rotary Club of Belleville has been doing that since 2008 through credits that the Club has built up by giving $100 U.S. for each Rotary Member, every year to the Rotary Foundation. When $1,000 U.S. is contributed to the Rotary Foundation, a request can be made for an individual to be recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow. Over the past 100 years, the Rotary Foundation has contributed three billion dollars on life changing, sustainable projects around the world. Any member of the Rotary Club in good standing may nominate someone for this deserving award. Nominees should exemplify the qualities and ideals of the Rotary Motto "Service Above Self". We are here this evening to recognize four members of our community as Paul Harris Fellows, people who have made an outstanding contribution to their community. A Paul Harris is the highest honour that can be bestowed on a person by a Rotary Club. The Rotary Club of Belleville has presented 90 Paul Harris Fellows over the years and many of the past recipients are with us this evening. Welcome to everyone!
(pictured L to R: President Andrew Bandler, Jack Miller, Karen Baker, Drew Brown, Fran and Ed Lehtinen, Fran Burroughs, Cory MacKay, John Smale and Tracy Bray) First recipient was Frances (Fran) Burroughs, nominated and introduced by Cory MacKay. Fran is best remembered by most as a tireless volunteer, having been with Hospice Quinte since April of 2005 as a volunteer with patient visitation. In addition to this much needed role, Fran has been involved with the fund development and community relations coordinator, raising funds and awareness through the Hospice Gala, Hike for Hospice and Dump the Plump. Fran is known for going above and beyond the Hospice mandate. She has also volunteered with Pathways to Independence in their Acquired Brain Injury program, teaching crafts, cooking and gardening. Eastminster Church is a welcoming environment due to Fran being one of the members of their Hospitality Committee, greeting people at the door, caring for anyone who is ill and working behind the scenes, tirelessly. There are a number of other causes that Fran has been involved with including the Belmont Long Term Care Facility, Pitter Patter Fun Run, Three Oaks, Red Cedar, Operation Red Nose, Salvation Army, Kids Against Hunger, Quinte Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Committee. Simply put Fran lives by the Rotary Motto and embodies the spirit of Rotary. She does everything she can to build goodwill and better friendships and encourages everyone around her to want to do the same. In her acceptance speech, Fran recognized all the good deeds done by Rotary, locally and internationally and was honoured to be recognized and humbled. She was raised to do unto others and expect nothing in return. Her parents' advice was to play it forward and volunteering is a perfect way to do that. Fran left us with a Helen Keller quote "kindness allows a blind man to see and a deaf man to hear".
The second recipient, Jack Miller, was nominated and introduced by Karen Baker. Jack was born and raised in Cornwall and moved to Belleville in 1974 as an afternoon announcer for CJBQ-AM (Quinte Broadcasting). In 1979 he assumed the position of sports director and two years later became the voice of the Belleville Bulls. Jack provided play-by-play for many national and international games and in 2017 joined the AHL franchise team that is now the Belleville Senators. In the 45 years Jack has lived here he has placed the city, hockey players and local charities above himself (and his family) on too many occasions. He has served as a Director of the local United Way and during his tenure on City Council, participated on many, many committees that have moved along professionally and progressively with Jack's contributions. As a citizen of Belleville and a member of Council and other organizations, he has worked to improve the city by completing "Build Belleville" projects, downtown revitalization, growing the arts, enhancing public transit in terms of equipment, routes and accessibility. Jack was humbled by his nomination. His father was involved in service clubs and impressed upon Jack how lucky they were and to give back. Local projects such as MediGas, Field of Ability mean a lot to Jack and he considers himself very fortunate to live in this community and to be part of what we have here. The community always comes together and it is a great feeling to be part of that.
Third and fourth recipients are a couple, a formidable team, nominated and introduced by John Smale and Drew Brown, Ed and Fran Lehtinen. Originally from Thunder Bay, Ed and Fran moved to Toronto where Ed worked in the food and drug department as an inspector in the civil service and Fran worked as a nurse at Toronto General Hospital. In 1985 Ed saw an opportunity and potential in a young Belleville company making safety gloves for industry use. The company is now known as Impacto Safety Products and employs a global team and produces hundreds of industrial safety articles. In Belleville alone they are proud to employ 50 people. Ed and Fran provided entrepreneurial spirit, steadfast belief, hard work and good people around them for the company to succeed. The Lehtinens have given generously to this community, not just with their donations, but importantly with their time and dedicated efforts. Some of their causes have been the Belleville General Hospital and Quinte Healthcare, the Children's Foundation where they themselves have been recognized as Angels, Hospice Quinte, Three Oaks, the United Way, Canadian Cancer Society, YMCA Strong Kids, Habitat for Humanity, Alzheimers Society and Rotary Loves Kids Golf Tournament. The world and this community are better for Ed and Fran's empathy, generosity and care. They do not seek attention. To them giving is not just about making a donation, it's about making a difference. When the Lehtinens were being honoured by Quinte Children's Foundation as that year's Guardian Angels, the newspaper quote said "if everyone in Quinte had the charitable spirit of Ed and Fran Lehtinen there's no telling how strong this community would be". Ed and Fran always answer the call for support........if they haven't already stepped forward before they could be asked. Humbly, Ed and Fran accepted their Paul Harris award with a very sincere thank you. They are very honoured.