In recognition of their service to the community, the Oceanside RCMP was recently presented an honourary recognition by the Rotary Club of Qualicum Beach.
President Jeff Frankford presented the Paul Harris Fellow recognition to Staff Sgt. Marc Pelletier, Const. Danielle Swanson, and Cpl. Jesse Foreman.
The Fellowship was presented at the Welch Rotary Park clubhouse on Aug. 31.
“We just thought it would be nice to recognize our local RCMP… because they just do such a great job,” said Frankford.
The idea first came about through the club’s past president, which was then sent to the executive.
“Sometimes it’ll get given to a mayor, or somebody that did something really big in the community. It’s more rare that they’re given out like this,” said Frankford.
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In Frankford’s recollection, the award not been presented to a community member ‘for at least the past five years.’
The Paul Harris Fellow recognition is usually awarded to club members who have annually contributed $1,000 to the Rotary Foundation. In this case, the Qualicum Beach club contributed on behalf of the RCMP, then awarded them the recognition.
Paul Harris founded the Rotary Club in 1905, when he gathered several business associates to discuss the idea of forming an organization for local professionals in Chicago.
“All the money raised that goes to Rotary International go towards helping polio eradication,” said Frankford.
In collaboration with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rotary launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988.
Since then, they’ve significantly reduced the number of polio cases by 99.9 per cent and have given the vaccine to more than 2.5 billion children.