Service Above Self Award Program
The Rotary Club of Rockford will be holding an awards ceremony on Thursday, October 26th at noon at Veterans Memorial Hall. The Club is pleased to honor seven individuals with the Service Above Self Award, and one organization will be honored for its special project to restore the headstones of Rockford’s Civil War Soldiers.
The Honorable Thomas McNamara, Mayor of Rockford, will speak at the special luncheon.
Rotary’s Service Above Self Award is presented to special individuals who go above and beyond in their volunteer service to the Rockford community. Based on Rotary’s motto, Service Above Self, the Award has been in existence in Rockford since 1968. More than 300 individuals have received this award to date.
The Mary Stuart Carruthers Award was named in memory of a loyal member of Rotary who championed many nonprofit causes. For the last several years this Rockford award has been presented to an organization that has provided a special service to the Rockford community. This year’s Mary Stuart Carruthers Award will be presented to 815 Stone Scrubbers, a new, all-volunteer organization that sprang up to restore the headstones of all the Civil War soldiers buried in Rockford. Since late spring they have restored 468 headstones.
This years’ Service Above Self Awards honorees and their organizational affiliations are listed below:
Eric Willard | Veterans Drop-in Center |
Susan S. Carlin | Women’s Club of Rockford |
Bob and Georgia Eiss | Wesley Willows Auxiliary |
Mary Ann Norwood | Golden Apple Foundation |
Roger and Lowes Eggert | Mercyhealth Volunteer Association |
Catherine Brown | Crusader Community Health |
Kathy Vigna | Alpine Kiwanis Club |
The Rotary Club of Rockford promotes community service through volunteer and philanthropic programs in Rockford and in the world. Our Club implements such programs as Rockford Reads, Rotary Academy and high school scholarships. This fall the Club will be planting a pollinator garden at Welsh School as an educational resource on the environment. Members also participate in Rotary International’s Polio Plus campaign to eradicate polio worldwide, provide for basic education and literacy, community economic development, disease prevention, maternal and child health, peacebuilding and conflict resolution, clean water and sanitation, and environmental remediation. For more information about Rotary International, please go to www.rotary.org.