The sixteenth annual Dwight D. Eisenhower Humanitarian Award will be presented on the anniversary of the birth of our 34th President.
This award has been presented in Gettysburg since 2003. Previous recipients include Dr. Bradley Hoch (2003), Rev. Karl J. Mattson (2004), Ernest Simpson (2005), Richard Waybright (2008), Connie Farabaugh (2010), Jennifer Weaver (2011), Harry Stokes (2013), John “Jack” Phillips (2014), Dr. E. William Waring, Jr. (2015), Kenneth M. Farabaugh, Jr. (2017), Dr. Kirby Kiefter (2018) and John Kramb (2019).
The Award was first presented in 1967 by the Palm Desert, California Chamber of Commerce, and the first honorees were President Eisenhower and Bob Hope. The award was conceived by Dr. Alloy Heyan a Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy, a dentist and a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
Following Eisenhower’s death in 1969, the Palm Desert Rotary Club took up the award. The award ended when Dr. Heyan moved on to help form the Rancho Mirage Rotary Club. After retiring and moving to Lancaster, Dr. Heyan brought his idea to the Gettysburg Rotary Club in 2002. Nominations are now being accepted for the sixteenth annual award.
The Award is in recognition of an individual’s outstanding humanitarian service and positive influence in one or more of the following areas: public/civic service, peace, and world understanding that have contributed to the betterment of humanity locally or globally. The nominee must be an individual rather than a group or organization and must be alive at the time of nomination. Preferably, the nominee will be from Adams County though not necessarily living in Adams County currently. If the nominee is not from Adams County or currently living in Adams County, their achievement must have had a major affect on Adams County. The nominee’s achievement can be local or global. It can represent a life’s work or a onetime occurrence.
For additional information about the award, or to nominate a deserving individual, contact the Rotary Club of Gettysburg at P.O. Box 3161, Gettysburg, PA 17325. Nomination forms are available at the Rotary Club’s webpage at www.gettysburgrotary.org/ or by contacting Chris Kimple at cjaj1984@hotmail.com. Please place Eisenhower Humanitarian Award in the subject line. Acceptance of nominations will close Sept. 2.