Presentation
Paul Harris Community Fellowship Awards
April 27, 2018
[Left to right: Mark Fox, Bob Cave, Salin Low, Jim Wheeler, Sarah Leathers, Linda Pendergast, Gary Miller, Don Scott, Don Bonner, Joanne Santiago, Tom Voorhees]
[Photo by Les Zinner]
Joanne Santiago took center stage as master-of-ceremonies for today's Paul Harris Community Fellowship Awards presentations. The Paul Harris Community Fellowship Awards are intended to recognize a person whose life demonstrates a shared purpose with that of the Rotary Foundation, to build a world of people helping others.
[Bob Cave, Photo by Les Zinner]
Joanne first welcomed Bob Cave to the podium. Bob nominated Mark Fox as a Paul Harris Community Fellow, noting that Mark founded "Journey Home Inc.", a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to reducing homelessness in central Connecticut. That program has since become a national model for similar homelessness programs. Mark considers himself a "Re-employment & Career Transition Counselor" and while wearing that hat, he helps people find jobs. Mark is involved in the ministries of several churches, and he's known as a great volunteer and leader. He noted that Mark's life follows the tenets of the 4-Way-Test and that he lives Rotary ideals in his daily life. Concluding, Bob also acknowledged Joanne for her leadership in guiding our Club's recognition of worthy others through the Paul Harris Fellowship Awards.
[Salin Low, Photo by Les Zinner]
Next, Salin Low rose to introduce her nominee, Jim Wheeler, for a Paul Harris Community Fellowship Award. She noted that Jim has been a pastor at the Collinsville Congregational Church since 1983 and has been continuously involved in community activities since that time. Jim coached soccer for many years and has served on the Canton Clergy Association, which founded Focus on Canton, a charity our Club has long supported. He has been a chaplain to the Canton Fire & EMS Department and also to the Connecticut Air National Guard. Jim has served on the Canton Youth Services Bureau and also ministered to prisoners in Connecticut's prison system. He is a selfless and dedicated volunteer.
[Gary Miller, Photo by Les Zinner]
Replacing Salin at the Podium, Gary Miller rose to introduce his nominee, Don Scott. Gary met Don through their shared participation in the Canton Lions Club. Gary characterized Don as one who often works quietly, behind the scenes and is "the go-to guy when one needs to get something done." Don and his wife Cheryl live in Canton and have 2 sons, Don Jr. and Zach. Long involved with Canton Little League, Don spent a career in the insurance industry in a variety of roles and with a variety of companies. He has been an active member of Canton Lions for 38 years and is a past president. His current more informal role is as "quartermaster" in which he just gets things done and is always there. The Canton Lions Club previously awarded Don their prestigious "Melvyn Jones Award", equivalent to our own Paul Harris Award, in Panthera leo terms.
Gary also noted that both Rotary and Lions were both founded in Chicago, and that both Paul Harris and Melvyn Jones are buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery, 11500 South Fairfield, Chicago, Illinois (website: http://mthope-cemetery.com/).
[Linda Pendergast, Photo by Les Zinner]
Next up, Linda Pendergast stood in for Nancy Nation, who was on her way back from Florida as we were meeting. Nancy's nominee for a Paul Harris Community Fellowship Award, Sarah Leathers lives in Simsbury with her husband Alan. Born in Michigan she moved to Simsbury at a young age and later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. Sarah and Alan have three children, Samatha, Hannah and Bill, as well as one grandchild. Earlier in her career, Sarah worked for Procter & Gamble, Castle Corporation and then established a day care which she managed for 7 years. Following a personal health crisis she took her management skills and founded "Healing Meals Community Project" in 2016.
Healing Meals Community Project provides healthy, organic meals for families undergoing health crises, at no cost to the families. Further, the program engages youth volunteers aged 14 to 22 to produce the meals. The young people learn both cooking and leadership skills. There are also adult volunteers who serve as "Delivery Angels" who deliver the food to the families in need. The programs goals: a. to keep their clients healthy, b. to teach practical cooking and leadership skills to youth and c. to provide community health education and public health policy advocacy are all fulfilled through its hands on work. Since inception, 15,000 meals have been delivered to 155 families in 29 towns. They have 170 adult and 170 youth volunteers trained and regularly volunteering in support of their mission. Linda noted that Sarah and her program exemplifies "service above self." Linda also wanted all Rotarians to know that Nancy has known Sarah for most of her life and her success in serving others was no surprise to Nancy. As a recipient of Healing Meals services herself, Nancy still feels the youth education and engagement aspect of Healing meals is the most remarkable.
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[Joanne Santiago, Photo by Les Zinner]
Resuming the podium, Joanne stated: "Don, Jim, Mark & Sarah, our Club believes your lives demonstrate the objectives of Rotary Foundation through your service to others. We thereby bestow upon you the honor of Paul Harris Community Fellow and provide you with a certificate, lapel pin and medallion in recognition of your achievements. Please display them with pride."
[Nancy Nations, July 14, 2017, Photo by Phil Worley]
Sarah Leathers, asked to make some brief comments, and spoke from the heart about Nancy Nations, characterizing Nancy as "the most beautiful, humble soul" and becoming emotional said she felt it was "pretty special that she (Nancy) saw something on me. I'm so honored."
Continuing, Sarah reminded Rotarians of Healing Meals Community Project's ambition to have its own kitchen, and that to date they have had to use borrowed or rented kitchens to serve their clients. She revealed that Steve Morris had given her his business card, recently met with her and that FAVARH and Healing Meals are going to collaborate to build a multi-use kitchen on the FAVARH campus, to be located in the "Rotary" building. Steve Morris showed an artists rendering of the planned building. The kitchen project will encompass a "cafe" to serve the needs of FAVARH's clients. Sarah revealed she had long held the ambition to create such a cafe, dedicated to serving people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Now that is a win-win for everyone! Meanwhile Healing Meals will soon be moving its primary kitchen to "Our Farm" and once the new FAVARH-located kitchen is ready, they will be able to operate from two locations and serve even more clients, in a larger area. Finally, Sarah is planning to join our Club.
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