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Judy, Amber, David and Saffron Button One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of a Royce Abbey award to a much-deserved member of the Rotary Club of Berwick! In the late 80’s Royce Abbey, a member of the Rotary Club of Essendon, became the third Australian Rotarian to serve as President of Rotary International. In recognition of Royce Abbey’s leadership, District Governors from around the world established The Royce and Jean Abbey Endowed Fund within The Rotary Foundation. The fund has financed nearly thirty Royce and Jean Abbey Vocational Scholarships, giving farmers, teachers and community leaders from the Asia Pacific Region and beyond, the opportunity to gain practical skills in Australia. Each scholarship provides $10,000USD for up to three months and covers travel, accommodation and community development in areas consistent with Rotary’s Seven Areas of Focus. The Royce Abbey Award is granted by a Rotary Club to one of its members to recognise their Enthusiasm and Commitment to Rotary, consistent with Royce Abbey’s Presidential theme of ‘Put Life into Rotary, Your Life’. The contribution of $1000 by a Club, which accompanies each award, means that the Royce and Jean Abbey Vocational Scholarship can continue to grow and make a difference to communities in developing countries. It was a great honour to present this award is a member of our Club. The list of his activities and achievements is too long to mention, and we would have been there all night to list them all, but they include active Rotary membership for almost 19 years, ongoing support to The Rotary Foundation, International projects and support of Donations in Kind, National projects, such as organising matching grants for Blaze-Aid trailers, District projects and sponsorship support and last, but not least, two years in a row as President of our great Club during a very challenging time. Congratulations to a very worthy recipient, Past President David Button, on receiving the Royce Abbey Award. It was great to see that David’s wife, Judy and both his daughters, Saffron and Amber, were there to share this moment with David.
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