Four dedicated community servants known for always going the extra mile and lending a helping hand to others were recognised as Paul Harris Fellows for their exceptional service and significant contributions at Strand Rotary Club’s annual awards ceremony last Saturday (1 April).
The recognition was bestowed on the proud recipients, Nico Beukes, Lillian Albertyn, Anita Miller and Anna Crocker, at the awards function, which was entitled An Evening with the Stars! and hosted at the Gordon’s Bay Yacht Club.
According to Strand Rotary Club president Elenore Baiocchi, a Paul Harris Fellow award is the highest form of recognition a Rotary club can bestow and represents a combination of fellowship and extraordinary service to the community.
“The original award dates back to 1957,” she pointed out, “and in the case of Strand police’s Warrant Officer Nico Beukes and volunteer Lillian Albertyn the acknowledgement here is of extraordinary service to the community. Each is already in a service role, but they go way beyond the call of duty.”
Baiocchi elaborated on how Beukes operates outside of his policeman’s role. “He drives numerous interventions with young boys and men in the community. These include running a soccer team, getting young boys off the streets and offering them an alternative to joining gangs, interacting with young men in need, running skills and mentorship programmes for them. Warrant Officer Beukes even runs courses for married men to help guide them to being good husbands and fathers in future.”
He also drives interventions at schools, addressing issues such as bullying, substance abuse or whatever needs to be addressed at the time. “He and his team offer mediation wherever there are incidents, but also help create long-term solutions rather than just address the immediate problem.”
Albertyn received worthy praise for her commitment as a volunteer at the Victim Support Centre at Strand Police Station. “She provides counselling for victims and is also very actively involved in school interventions with Warrant Officer Beukes, with whom she works closely particularly in respect of using her teaching skills,” Baiocchi related. “In addition to her voluntary work with the police, she drives her own commendable efforts in the community.
“She is also founder and chairperson of the Strand Business Forum, which actively promotes businesses in the area, strives to help them to grow and also gets businesses involved in helping members of the community wherever this is needed. It is both a commercial and a social or supportive initiative.”
Albertyn is also responsible for beach-front programmes during the school holidays, when she puts interventions in place to prevent children and parents from being separated when the beaches are particularly busy, by zoning them, supplying wrist bands and constantly patrolling. She also makes sure children are reconnected with their parents when they do get lost.
“Both Warrant Officer Beukes and Ms Albertyn work tirelessly with the organisations we partner with in the Helderberg area, creating a strong network of support and care for families and especially the youth, who are a strategic focus for Strand Rotary. The organisations include ACVV, Badisa and Patch.”
Among the other two Paul Harris Fellow recipients is Anita Miller, who boasts the prestigious Sapphire award. This accolade is considered a double Paul Harris Fellow award, which was bestowed on Miller for her long-term commitment to Rotary and its ideals and 37 years’ service to the Trunk Junk community shop in Strand.
The fourth recipient is Anna Crocker, a current Strand Rotary member who was acknowledged for her amazing work in connecting the Rotary Club to the aforementioned community organisations, as well as establishing incredible connections and partnerships between them.
“The four Paul Harris Fellow recipients are so deserving of the recognition for the work they do in the area and for the way they help us as a club and an organisation to make a difference to the people in our community,” said Baiocchi.
