Every year, our Zones honor Rotarians, Rotary alumni or Rotary-based organizations whose lives and work exemplify Rotary’s passion to strive toward international service and peace with the Donald MacRae Peace Award.
This tradition started in then-Zone 22 in 2004 to honor Donald MacRae, a Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Back in 1921, MacRae pushed for Rotary to expand its community base and think in terms of global service. As a result, at the International Convention held that year in Edinburgh, Rotarians unanimously agreed to incorporate international peacemaking into Rotary’s incorporating documents with these words, “The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world of fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.” Today, we know those words as the Fourth Object of Rotary, and they are the basis for all the international work – from club service trips to Polio Plus – we do today.
The members of the 2021 Donald MacRae Peace Award judging panel this year were:
- Past RI president Wilf Wilkinson
- Past Trustee Carolyn Jones
- PDG Ron Denham
- Rotarian David Ives
- Past Trustee Chair Brenda Cressey
Rounding out the Donald MacRae team are administrators PDG Dan Doherty (Zone 28) and PDG Helen Reisler (Zone 32).
The two recent winners selected are:
- Zone 28 Kim Spirou Essex Rotary Club District 6400 – While Kim has led and been involved in numerous local Rotary projects and leadership roles, her heart lies with humanitarian service on an international level.
- Zone 32 Jude Alawa Rotaract Club of Yale College District 7980 – As President of the Yale Rotaract Club Jude conceived of a Humanitarian project to provide much needed medical equipment to a hospital in Turkey. This led to a series of humanitarian projects.
A profile of Jude Alawa appears on the next page of this issue. Kim Spirou’s profile will appear in a future issue. All past winners are available on the Zone website:
Do you know a Rotarian, Rotary alumni or Rotary-based organization that should be honored in this fashion? Read about the Donald MacRae Peace Award on the Zone website and look for the call for nominations next spring.