Rotary honour well deserved

BEFITTING ACCOLADE: Raewyn Jackson, who was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Kaitaia Rotary Club last week, with club president Charmaine Foster and assistant District Governor Sue Hamnet.

Kaitaia Rotary Club president Charmaine Foster didn't need to do a great deal of research before she presented a Paul Harris Fellowship to Raewyn Jackson last week.

She and Mrs Jackson had been friends since the age of 8, she said, and she was better placed than many to judge her as a very deserving recipient of formal recognition.

Paul Harris Fellowships are generally presented to distinguished Rotarians, but on occasion are bestowed upon individuals outside the organisation who had displayed the highest ideals in their personal and professional lives, and have made an outstanding contribution to their community.

Assistant District Governor Sue Hamnet told the gathering that the fellowships were named for Paul Harris, who met with three others in Chicago in 1905 to found what would become Rotary, which now boasted 1.2 million members worldwide.

The founding philosophy of Rotary was 'Service above self,' Ms Hamnet saying fellowships were awarded to individuals who had given selflessly of their time and skills, and in recognition of outstanding service to their community or profession.

Mrs Foster described Mrs Jackson, who worked in Kaitaia as a kindergarten teacher for some 40 years, as always ready, willing and able to help others. It was she who would drive someone to Auckland when they needed to get there but had no way of doing so, who cooked for the sick, who rescued waifs and strays, and who gave her time to all manner of organisations, including Switzer Residential Care (where she helped feed residents and visited with her collection of dogs as part of the SPCA's Pet Outreach Therapy programme), Hospice and the Rotary Club.

"She has time for everyone, the sick, those who have fallen on hard times, those who need help for all sorts of reasons. She never gives up and she never counts the hours," she said.

Ms Jackson said simply that she did all those things because she enjoyed doing them.

Meanwhile Mrs Foster noted that many club projects would not get off the ground were it not for the contributions made others outside the club.

Those who were recognised as 'Friends of Rotary,' specifically for their support of this year's book fairs, were Freda Donaldson, Angela Fleet, Raewyn Jackson and Pansy Foster.