Stockbridge, Massachusetts - Carolyn W. Pierce, a member of the Tri~Town Rotary Club, has been accorded Rotary’s highest recognition, the Distinguished Service Award. This distinction is given to only 50 people in the world each year, in recognition of their service to The Rotary Foundation which is the charitable arm of Rotary International.

Pierce has been involved with the Rotary Foundation at various levels for over 10 years, including being named to the position of Regional Rotary Foundation Coordinator in 2004, whose appointment was a 3 year term. During her appointment, the 15 Rotary Districts, for which she was responsible, showed significant increase in support for the Rotary Foundation. The area included all of New England, and most of upstate New York.

The Tri~Town Rotary Club is one of over 33,000 Rotary Clubs world wide whose purpose is to enhance the lives of people, not only in their own communities, but also those in the emerging nations of the world. Tri~Town is very active in the three communities the clubs serves; Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

They are involved in a community supper every six weeks which is sponsored by the Lee Congregational Church. Tri~Town also awards significant scholarships to college bound graduating seniors from the three local high schools as well as offering  many grants to many not-for-profit organizations in the area.

As a Centennial salute to the 100^th Anniversary of Rotary, Tri~Town Rotary started a program to revive the Elm trees which were once seen in all parts of the Berkshires but lost to the Dutch Elm disease. The Club is also active in international projects in Africa.  They brought a clean water well to small village in the country of Mali, thus eradicating death due to water borne diseases in children under five. They have also been integral in lending aid to the victims in Uganda.

Tri~Town Rotary is also an integral part of the Polio eradication program, which was started in 1985 by The Rotary Foundation. Only 1% of the world is still reporting new cases of this disease in four areas of Africa and India. Rotary will continue its fight until Polio becomes the second major disease to be eradicated.