HSV Rotary spotlights local service contributor

Submitted photo GOOD CHARACTER: Rotarian Melanie Pederson, left, is greeted by HSV Rotary President Donna Aylward during a recent meeting. Pederson is tireless in her efforts to give service to the community.
Submitted photo GOOD CHARACTER: Rotarian Melanie Pederson, left, is greeted by HSV Rotary President Donna Aylward during a recent meeting. Pederson is tireless in her efforts to give service to the community.

HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE -- Members of the Rotary Club of Hot Springs Village take pride in the Rotary International motto, "Service Above Self." As a group, the club is involved in worthy causes like maintaining the Veterans Memorial outside the Ponce de Leon Center, and cleaning up community roadsides during Village Pride Week.

But Rotarians also involve themselves in good causes as individuals. Each new member is told that joining Rotary Club does not automatically make one a Rotarian, but that it's an honor people must attain for themselves.

Being a Rotarian means demonstrating good character -- even when no one is looking. And Villager Melanie Pederson personifies that idea.

While many residents know Pederson from her tireless efforts to direct the annual Village Walk for Cancer Research, she is involved in much more.

Pederson volunteers to help feed more than 900 families in Garland and Saline counties each month, through the Faith Fellowship Food Pantry. She said in a news release, "We prepare boxes that contain staples, and bag up food that includes meat, dairy, milk, bread and pastry. We are a faith-based group and pray before we start to load the food into cars, and are often asked to pray with some of the men and women who come through the line."

She is also involved with the Hot Springs Village Citizens Police Academy, the HSV Area Chamber of Commerce, Village SCAT, and Friends of Hot Springs Village. In addition, she teaches a fitness class to promote the health and wellness of her fellow Villagers.

When asked why she does so much, she attributes the work to "service above self."

Membership in HSV Rotary Club is open to all, and guests are always welcome to attend weekly meetings, held at 7 a.m. Thursdays in the Fireside Dining Room of the Good Samaritan Society, 121 Cortez Road.

Local on 01/24/2017

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