For immediate release
May 24, 2018
Rotary Club of Hamilton presents prestigious award
The Rotary Club of Hamilton will present a Paul Harris Fellowship Award on June 7 to NHL Nashville Predators’ Defenseman Ryan Ellis and his charity Elly4Kids. The award will be given at Rotary’s annual Celebration event at the Hamilton Club.
The award recipient of a Paul Harris Fellowship Award sets an example for many by their contributions to our community. Their personal involvement makes the community a better place in which to live. The nomination committee overwhelming voted to present the 2018 Paul Harris Fellowship Award to Ryan Ellis – Elly4Kids Foundation.
The Paul Harris Fellowship Award is named for Paul Harris, who founded Rotary more than 112 years ago. The Paul Harris Fellowship Award is one of the highest honours Rotary can bestow upon a person. Recipients are Rotarians and community professionals, in recognition of their outstanding contributions, exemplifying the highest ideal in Rotary in placing “SERVICE ABOVE SELF.” This honour accompanies a donation of $1,000 (US), in the recipient’s name, to Rotary International’s “Annual Program Fund,” which supports Rotary’s world-wide programs.
Many other notable figures have been named as Paul Harris Fellows, including U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. astronaut James Lovell, UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, and Jonas Salk. Locally, the Rotary Club of Hamilton has recognized local community volunteers like Rob Blunsdon a teacher who offers a free summer literacy program to inner city children and to organizations such as The Hamilton Spectator for their work in poverty and health research in their Code Red Series.
Ryan Ellis, a defenseman for the Nashville Predators, was raised in Hamilton, Ontario. Ellis, or Elly to his teammates, is passionate about ensuring the children of Hamilton have the same opportunities he did for a healthy, physically active childhood.
Through his Elly4Kids Foundation, Ryan wishes to help build better futures for local kids. Working with the City of Hamilton, his goal is to help re-build parks and playgrounds throughout the city, along with undertaking other local initiatives. The Elly4Kids Foundation has supported three new play structures with the newest one being installed at Woodlands Park this summer.
The Rotary Celebration event in which the Paul Harris Fellowship will be presented to Ryan Ellis Elly4Kids Foundation will take place on Thursday, June 7, 2018. Tickets for this dinner and awards are available at www.rotaryclubhamilton.ca
The Rotary Club of Hamilton was founded in 1913. The Rotary Club of Hamilton has a number of projects and initiatives focused on literacy, health, recreation and poverty elimination that have benefited more than 9,000 children & youth in 2018.
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For more information, contact:
Brad Spencer
President – Rotary Club of Hamilton
289-639-2919