Paul Harris Fellowship

A Paul Harris Fellowship is a recognition by the Rotary Foundation of a donation of USD1,000 with the presentation of a certificate and medallion. In many parts of the world, it is simply a recognition of a donation. But in Australia, clubs have used the Fellowship to acknowledge Rotarians and members of the wider community for their service to humanity. The Club makes the donation on behalf of the individual to be honoured and then presents them with certificate and medallion.

This year, the Rotary Club of Caloundra Pacific has honoured Dan Thomasson with a Paul Harris Fellowship. Dan has only been with our club for a few years, but has contributed from the outset.

His first official role was as fund-raising director in 2013-14, he then took on the role of dinner registrations, he participated in one of our visits to the Solomon Islands, he became President Elect in 2014-15 and then President the following year, he then became our Rotary Foundation Chair and during that year he joined the District Youth Exchange Committee. In addition he has been involved in countless other activities that he’s undertaken on behalf of the club from working on our trailer through to numerous printing jobs. Congratulations, Dan.

One of the issues with using the Paul Harris Fellowship as an award as we do here in Australia is, recognising subsequent contributions from Rotarians. In that circumstance, the club can donate another USD1000 on behalf of the member and receive a sapphire pin. This year, the Rotary Club of Caloundra Pacific would like to recognise Neville Woodforth, a Rotarian who already has a Paul Harris Fellowship. He’s been a Rotarian for more than a quarter of a century and has been with our club for over 10 years.

Neville has a deep passion for Youth Service and has been involved in District Youth Committees for over 17 years. He has worked tirelessly since 2008/2009 to provide the RYDA road safety education program to year 11 students in the Sunshine Coast area and beyond. He was instrumental in bringing together the four Rotary clubs – Caloundra Pacific, Caloundra, Kawana Waters, and Glasshouse Mountains to work together to conduct the Caloundra program for schools from Beerwah to Sippy Downs. For the first five years, he was the school and transport coordinator and for the past four years, in addition to this role, he has carried out the role of the Caloundra Program Coordinator. He has also assumed the role of the District Chairperson for RYDA for three years. In Caloundra, the first program began in 2009. In 2017, the joint Rotary clubs will conduct 8 programs for 11 schools with around 1500 Year 11 students participating . By the end of 2017, the joint Rotary clubs will have delivered the road safety education program to 8,000 students at the Caloundra venue. By obtaining grants and the goodwill of all involved, Neville has built this program to enable students to participate free of charge, and has also established the program so it will continue into the future. Congratulations, Neville.