MT. VERNON (WMIX) — The Mt. Vernon Rotary Club brought back multiple awards from the District Conference last weekend, including the prestigious Governor’s Trophy.
The trophy was one of five accolades that recognize the club’s commitment to the Rotary motto “Service above Self.”
“The award I’m most proud of is the Governor’s Trophy for large clubs,” said Mt. Vernon Rotary President Kevin Settle.
“It’s the first time since 2016 that we’ve won that award, and it shows our club is meeting the highest levels for our District benchmarks in areas such as community service, foundation giving, district participation, and more.”
Other awards included a Presidential Citation from the International Rotary President, a Certificate of Appreciation for the club’s commitment to End Polio Now, recognition as a Top 10 Club dedicated to diversity, and the Verdu-Barlow Award presented to Kevin and Cheryl Settle for their work with the Belize Children’s Project.
Settle said the Mt. Vernon Rotary Club has invested a lot of time during the past couple years to re-establish the necessary structures for success – things like creating a new Strategic Plan and updating Club Bylaws.
“Having those structures in place really help us to identify and accomplish our goals and maximize our community impact,” Settle said.
The conference is an annual celebration of District 6510 accomplishments, as well as a forum for sharing information. Break-out sessions offer advice for club development and provide information about what is happening with Rotary on a regional, national, and international level.
Awards are distributed to recognize outstanding clubs. This year’s conference was held November 3-4 at Castle Ridge in Centralia. Fifteen club members participated in the conference.
“This year’s Rotary theme is Create Hope in the World. Our club is doing that, and it’s nice to be recognized for our efforts and encouraged by the next levels of Rotary,” Settle said.
Rotary is an international service organization with 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs around the world. The organization was founded in Chicago in 1905 by Paul Harris, an effort to bring businessmen from different vocations together to do good deeds.
Mt. Vernon Rotary has a number of annual projects that benefit the local community, including a flag program, Coats for Kids annual giveaway, Smiles of Hope campaign, STRIVE mentoring program, exchange student opportunities, and the presentation of academic scholarships and community donations. Members also help with District projects like the Belize Children’s Program and international projects like polio eradication.