Top honour for Rotary five

Five women were recognised as Paul Harris Fellows at last week's Narre Warren Rotary Club meeting including, from left, Anne McGill, Margaret Randall, Margaret Sansom, Carrol Cooke and Diana Heath.

By LACHLAN MOORHEAD

LAST week’s Narre Warren Rotary Club meeting was anything but a regular gathering.
Five highly regarded Casey women were recognised for their outstanding service to the region and the broader community with each being named a Paul Harris Fellow.
The meeting, held last Wednesday at the Fountain Gate Hotel, was an extra-special event with Margaret Sansom, Anne McGill, Diana Heath, Margaret Randall and Carrol Cooke all receiving an honorary certificate and lapel pin as new Paul Harris Fellows.
Lyn Pickering, chairman of the Rotary Club of Narre Warren, said the Paul Harris Fellowship is a way to acknowledge the hard work of a person who volunteers their time and effort in support of others.
“Tonight we recognise and applaud a number of people whom the Rotary Club of Narre Warren have chosen to honour for their dedication and service to our local community,” she said, speaking at the event.
Each of the five Paul Harris Fellow recipients have had a long involvement with the Meals on Wheels organisation as volunteers and have affiliations with both the Rotary club and the Inner Wheel Club of Narre Warren.
“The Rotary Club of Narre Warren believes that your lives exemplify the humanitarian and educational objectives of the Rotary Foundation,” Ms Pickering said.
“We thank you for demonstrating in your lives a commitment to helping people in need here and around the world.”
The Paul Harris Fellow is named after Paul Harris, who founded Rotary with three business associates in Chicago in 1905. The Paul Harris Fellow recognition was established in his honour in 1957 to express appreciation for his contribution of US $1000 to the Rotary Foundation’s humanitarian and educational programs.
The foundation programs provide educational opportunities, food, clean water, healthcare, immunisations and shelter for millions of people and are funded, implemented and managed by Rotarians and Rotary clubs across the globe.