Submitted Photo Jean McCausland (center), a Westfield resident and active volunteer in the community, was honored with a Paul Harris Fellow Award by the Westfield-Mayville Rotary Club during its Oct. 19 Gold Rush event at Eason Hall in Westfield. Helen Baran (left), Westfield-Mayville Rotarian and Club Past President, nominated McCausland for this special recognition. Patty Benton, Westfield-Mayville Rotary Club Foundation Chair and Club Past President, presented the honored recipient with her Paul Harris Fellow certificate and pin.

A dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer in the community certainly describes Jean McCausland, a long time Westfield resident. The Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville recognized McCausland’s positive contributions to the community when it honored this non-Rotarian with a Paul Harris Fellow Award on Oct. 19 during the Westfield-Mayville Rotary Club’s Gold Rush event at Eason Hall in Westfield.

The presentation of Paul Harris recognition is The Rotary Foundation’s way of expressing its appreciation for a substantial contribution to its humanitarian and educational programs. The award is named for Paul Harris, a Chicago lawyer who started Rotary International with three business associates in 1905. Rotarians often designate a Paul Harris Fellow as a tribute to a person whose life demonstrates a shared purpose of the objectives of The Rotary Foundation.

Helen Baran, Westfield-Mayville Rotary Club member and Club Past President (1997-1998) nominated McCausland for this special honor. This nomination was then endorsed by a club committee. Baran stated about McCausland, “Jean is usually the first to volunteer for service, if something is needed. Her enthusiasm in all of her service endeavors has contributed to making the Westfield community a good place to live.”

Patty Benton, Westfield-Mayville Rotary Club Foundation Chair and Club Past President (1995-1996), gave the presentation speech and awarded McCausland with her Paul Harris Fellow certificate and pin from The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Benton said, “Rotary’s motto is ‘Service Above Self.’ Through her volunteer activities, Jean McCausland exemplifies our motto.”

McCausland, the daughter of Minifred and Billie Dibble, was raised in a family of community minded parents. She learned early on that volunteering was a way of life. Upon receiving her Paul Harris Fellow Award, McCausland stated, “To be recognized by the Westfield-Mayville Rotary, which is such an admirable service organization, is particularly humbling. You, as an organization and individuals, have contributed a great deal to the betterment of our community. To be honored by you as one of many with the same goal is very meaningful. Thank you.”

As a registered nurse, McCausland has been seen for decades at several health fairs and blood screening events, assisting attendees and checking blood pressure. She has served as the coordinator of the blood pressure screening events. A member of the Westfield Memorial Hospital (WMH) Auxiliary, she has volunteered in many capacities. She has served as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which is charged with all fundraisers. McCausland has also served as WMH Auxiliary Treasurer, as well as being on its Board of Directors.

In addition, this active community member finds the time to volunteer three days per week at the Westfield Community Kitchen, plus serve on its board of directors. Throughout the years, McCausland has also volunteered at all of the First Presbyterian Church of Westfield’s harvest dinners each autumn, helping to raise funds for its missions. Also, she serves on this church’s Community Committee.

During the award presentation speech, Benton stated, “A world of peace and goodwill comes closer to reality today as Jean McCausland becomes a Paul Harris Fellow. It is because of gifts like the one made in Jean’s honor that The Rotary Foundation is able to carry out an array of program that achieve beneficial changes in our world.”

Benton noted that some of the positive contributions The Rotary Foundation makes throughout the world include the following: world wide efforts to eradicate polio; improved living conditions; increased food production in impoverished countries; better education, especially for women and girls; wider availability of treatment and rehabilitation for the sick and disabled so that they can better support themselves; new channels for the flow of international understanding between people and countries; and brighter hopes for peace throughout the world

She continued, “A contribution to The Rotary Foundation is an investment in the ideal of goodwill, peace and understanding. That is the ideal held high by Rotarians the world over, and one that Jean McCausland clearly shares. As Rotary works with such individuals of goodwill, we believe the ideal will become reality. It gives us great pleasure to honor Jean as a Paul Harris Fellow and to present her with a certificate and pin as emblems of appreciation which are given to each Paul Harris Fellow recipient.”

The Rotary Club of Westfield-Mayville proudly congratulates Jean McCausland as its newest non-Rotarian Paul Harris Fellow Award honoree, and it extends its gratitude to her for all of her positive volunteer service efforts in the community.