Our annual Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) Dinner was held last Friday evening, November 7th in the Maturango Room of the SpringHill Suites. Attendees gathered for an evening of celebration of the generosity that is an ear mark of the spirit of Service Above Self.
The display of all our club's PHFs. Photo courtesy of David Saint-Amand.
Following a warm welcome from Club President Ricca Charlon, and a brief history of the PHF, attendees enjoyed a marvelous dinner and delicious deserts by Rose Fusco Catering.
After dinner, our newest recipients were presented with their PHFs. The sponsor for each one provided a short speech on the reason for their gift, all of which amply outlined the recipient’s generosity and commitment to service.
The Honorees for the evening were:
Paul Harris Fellows
- Daniel Lagunez sponsored by Mary Lundstrom
- Laura Miller sponsored by Betty Miller (“No relation.”)
- Riley Morris sponsored by Jill Bradford
- Cyndy Noel sponsored by Stephanie Hudson
- Mark Thielenhaus sponsored by Steve Goad
Following the PHF presentations, those who had achieved a new Donor-Level in contributors to the R.I. Foundation were recognized with a PHF pin representing that level of achievement. The awardees were:
Paul Harris Fellow - One Saphire
($2,000 to $2,999.9)
- Jill R Bradford
- Stephanie Hudson
Paul Harris Fellow - Two Saphires
($3,000 to $3,999.99)
- Kim Metcalf
This occasion marked the 26th year of our club being a 100% PHF Club. While Rotary International (R.I.) only recognizes a club as 100% PHF the first time it achieves that measure, the Rotary Club of China Lake has done that which no more than a dozen other clubs out of more than 34,000 have done: maintained 100% status since that was first recognized by R.I..
Each PHF represents a gift of $1,000 to the R.I. Foundation. After three years, a portion of those donations are returned by the Foundation to the Districts for use in District grants. Those funds are made available to the Club whence they came in the form of District Matching Grants. In recent years, the Rotary Club of China Lake has used these grants to help fund the Rotary Bike Racks project.