District 7210 is excited to announce that we’re accepting nominations for our first-ever District Awards. This initiative was led by the Rotary Young Professional Action Committee (RYPAC).
"The success of our Rotary impact on our communities starts at our club level, so it only makes sense that we showcase our outstanding Rotarians, clubs, and projects,” said RYPAC Chair Beau Loendorf. “I am proud to see our District make strides forward in recognizing the hard work but now it's up to our members to nominate those deserving Rotarians."
Here are the categories (all recipients must be active members of a D7210 club) …
• Rotarian of the Year (three recipients): This award will go to Rotarians who embody the values of a Rotarian in not only their club but also within their career and/or community during the 2022-2023 Rotary year. One recipient will be a Rotarian of at least 10 years, another will have been active between 5-10 years and the other will be for an individual who has been a part of Rotary for 2-5 years.
• New Rotarian of the Year (up to five awardees): These individuals sometimes go all in, getting involved in leadership positions, committee roles, and coordinating projects within their first year. Recipients must have joined within the last two Rotary years and made a significant difference within their club and/or region/ district.
• President of the Year (two recipients): This award is to recognize an individual who goes above and beyond in the club and community to lead by example. This award goes to two individuals, one who was president of a club for more than 25 Rotarians and one for under 25 Rotarians. All nominees must receive at least two letters of recommendation for this award.
• Rotary Hall of Fame (up to 10 inductees): Being part of the Rotary Hall of Fame, each recipient must be an active Rotarian within their club/ district, held at least one leadership position within their club, served at the region or district level in some capacity (serving in a leadership position or on a committee), showed a strong focus for membership growth, and represents the values of a Rotarian.
• IMAGINE Award (one recipient): This award will be known as the Jennifer Jones Imagine Award for this year (each year it will change to the "Theme" of that year's Rotary International President). Jennifer Jones had three main goals this year, and in honor of her dream of building a more inclusive rotary experience, we want to recognize a person or project that also lives up to that ideology.
• Service Project of the Year (one recipient): This will go to a club that went above and beyond with service this past Rotary year. In recognition of putting others before themselves, this award will not only thank them for this dedication to our values as a Rotarian but also receive a donation to the foundation on their behalf. The service project of the year recipient will have demonstrated at least one of the areas of focus for Rotary, show the significant impact they made on the community, and have at least 60 percent of involvement from the club.
• Fundraising Project of the Year (one recipient): This award will go to the top fundraising project of the year that not only raised a lot of money but also used those funds to make a significant difference in their community. Nominations should provide us with the legacy of the project (is this the first or 5th year of the project), how much money did they raise, what involvement was committed by the local club, and what the funds of this project will support.
• Community Engagement Award (up to five recipients): This award will be given to no more than 5 clubs who exemplified the values of a Rotarian and went above and beyond this past year to make a difference in their community. Service, fundraising, and supporting local businesses are just part of the hard work our clubs do to make a difference within their community. A club who receives the community engagement award must provide details on the projects they held within their community and why their work made a difference.
Todd Bowen, incoming President-Elect from Wappingers Falls is overseeing the awards committee which includes leaders throughout District 7210. For more details about the awards, email Beau Loendorf (beauloendorf@gmail.com) or Todd Bowen (tcbow14@gmail.com). To make a nomination, click here.