For only the second time in its 74 year history, the Seattle-King County First Citizen Award will be presented to an organization.
Rotary International District 5030, which encompasses 53 clubs including those in Bellevue, will be honored at a civic banquet on June 13 in Seattle. Collectively, the clubs in the district, from Mill Creek to Enumclaw, have approximately 3,200 members.
The only other organization to be honored with the First Citizen award was Children’s Orthopedic Hospital (now Seattle Children’s) in 1944.
The Seattle-King County First Citizen Award and civic banquet, believed to be this region’s oldest such recognition, has no fund-raising expectation, but instead is designed solely as a not-for-profit celebration of community involvement.
“Rotary has a rich history of community leadership, volunteerism and public service, and an impressive record of worldwide collaboration,” noted Roni Strupat, First Citizen Committee chair, in announcing this year’s selection. “Rather than single out an individual, we are delighted to honor an organization with remarkable dedication – and results – in meeting the challenges associated with hunger, poverty and illiteracy.”
Among some of Rotary’s noteworthy accomplishments within District 5030 are:
Partners for Work, a project developed by the Rotary Club of Auburn in 2003. It creates employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities by utilizing Rotarian business leadership as a link between job candidates and paid work.
The Third Grade Dictionary Project, a literacy program that provides dictionaries to all third grade students living within the area of the district’s 53 clubs.
Rotary First Harvest (RFH), a project started by two members of the University District club in 1982. Since then, RFH has gathered more than 100 million pounds of produce for food banks in Washington state and other needy parts of the region.
Like other First Citizen Award recipients, Rotary has myriad achievements within King County and beyond.
One of the most significant may be its international flagship program to eradicate polio. The campaign, spanning more than 25 years, is nearing completion.
Rotary International is a volunteer organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service, and help build goodwill and peace around the world. Its 1.2 million members are affiliated with 34,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.
The June 13 will be held at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel. Tickets for the First Citizen banquet and details on sponsorship options will be available online at www.Seattle First Citizen.
