Rotary Zone 2832 Donald MacRae Peace Award
 
Call for Nominations for Donald MacRae Peace Award
 
Call for Nominations for Donald MacRae Peace Award
 
Do you know a Rotarian or Rotary organization that deserves plaudits for the international work it does?
 
Every year, a Rotarian or Rotary organization is celebrated in each of our Zones for outstanding achievement consistent with the ideals expressed in the Fourth Object of Rotary: “The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through humanitarian activity of international significance.“
 
Each Rotary Club and District in Zones 28 and 32 is encouraged every year to nominate a candidate for the Donald MacRae Peace Award. Is this the year for you to honor one of your Rotarians?
 
Candidates for the awards will have demonstrated the advancement of international goodwill, understanding and peace through peace-making efforts or humanitarian activity of international significance.  The award is open to Rotarians and non-Rotarians, but the applicant must have a relationship with the Club or District that is nominating him/her.
 
The award honors the contributions of Halifax Rotarian Donald MacRae who, at the International Convention in 1918, proposed that Rotary become an agent for the promotion of goodwill and peace among nations.  This was the first time that an international vision of Rotary was publicly expressed.
 
Who has won the Donald MacRae Peace Award in the past?  The list reads like a who’s who of our two Zones’ most active internationalists. The last year’s winners are:
 
  • Zone 28 Dr. Gail Hoffman, a member of the Rotary Club of Midland, Michigan District 6310. Gail’s efforts in nonviolent solutions have resulted in several collaborations with churches and nonprofits in her communities and around the world. She actively pursues grant money and funding for peacebuilding in South Sudan in collaboration with the Juba Rotary Club and with NewGen Peacebuilders (who provide training for peace education and mentoring for young people ages 14-25). She and her husband, Tom Lane, helped support a South Sudanese refugee who was granted asylum and completed his education in the U.S.
  • Zone 32 Richard "Rick" Benson, Westport (CT) Rotary Club District 7980 – This is a Person of Action of the highest caliber that exemplifies each theme as the Rotary Years roll by. He is a Peace advocate no matter where he travels on Rotary work – some of the most recent places being Guatemala (with great dedication to Education and Literacy) and Uganda (medical needs at hospitals). If there was ever a person that would be most humble and dedicated to furthering Peace AND utilize the award not for self promotion but simply to keep the theme of Peace always present – it is PDG Richard “Rick” Benson, of D-7980 Southern Connecticut.
Applications
Available at THIS LINK.
 
For the complete list of past recipients, go to the Zone website.  While you are there, check out this year’s application.  Doing the work to be eligible for the award is exceptional but filling out the application is easy! Deadline for receipt of applications is May 31, 2024, and they should be emailed to:
 
            Zone 28 Applications: send to PDG Dan Doherty, dohertyd@telus.net
Zone 32 Applications: send to PDG Helen Reisler, Helenbreisler@aol.com