Leaders in Service
awards for 2026
The awards | Honorees | Sponsorships | Tickets | Our projects | Nominations
An awards program and fundraiser
Sponsorships and tickets to our second annual award banquet on May 12, 2026 will benefit our club's local non-profit arm, the RCDW Foundation. At the banquet, we will honor three local leaders who have changed our community for the better.
About the awards
The Leaders in Service Awards will recognize top executives of enterprises in three categories -- business, non-profit and government -- who have helped their organizations contribute to improving our community and the world. We are asking for nominations from the public.
Criteria for these awards are that nominees 1) have held a leadership position in their organization, or its local branch; 2) have made a significant impact on the community's needs in one or more of the Rotary Areas of Focus; 3) have led a life and managed their organization in harmony with the Rotary Four-Way Test; and 4) have demonstrated strong leadership skills including a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, personnel development and collaboration with other community leaders.
Elected officials are not eligible.
2026 Leaders in Service honorees announced
From left: honorees Betsy Graham, Katrina Knight, and Wilbur Jones
March 9, 2026: The club announced the recipients of its fifth annual Leaders in Service Awards. They are Betsy Graham, veterans service officer for New Hanover Conty, in the government category; Katrina Knight, executive director of the Good Shepherd Center, in the non-profit category; and Wilbur Jones Jr., a historian specializing in World War II, in the private-sector category. The three honorees will received their awards at the club's banquet on May 12. Leaders in Service recognizes executives and other leaders who have made outstanding contributions to their community. Through sponsorships and ticket sales, it is the Wilmington Rotary Club's chief fund-raiser.
About the fundraiser
Sponsors make tax-deductible contributions to the Wilmington Rotary Club's RCDW Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable institution. That foundation makes grants to support charitable projects in the Wilmington area, as well as contributing to global projects through our International Projects Committee. In return for their support for our foundation, sponsors get recognition, both at the awards banquet and in public media advertising, and tickets to the banquet.
Details of the May 12, 2026 awards banquet are yet to be finalized, but we plan to present the awards during an event that includes a reception, dinner, excellent wines, background music, and other entertainment. Guests will receive a colorful commemorative program and we will show video interviews with each of the award recipients. Speakers will introduce the honorees, each of whom will give a short acceptance speech.
Sponsorship levels are:
- Platinum: $10,000 (two tables + brand exposure and other event marketing)
- Gold: $5,000 (one table + brand exposure and event marketing)
- Silver: $2,500 (one table + brand exposure and event marketing)
- Friends of Rotary: $1,000 (four seats)
- Individual tickets: $150
To become a Leaders in Service sponsor, please complete the form linked here.
Where the money goes
Funds raised through the 2026 Leaders in Service awards will be allocated during the 2026-27 Rotary year, which begins July 1. To give an idea of how we use our financial resources, what follows is a partial list of projects and grant recipients the RCDW Foundation has supported in recent years.
- Long-term support for education and literacy in New Hanover County schools that serve high-poverty student bodies.
- Our club's long-term "Legacy Project" at Williston Middle School, supporting such needs as science, math and reading competitions; fitness programs for students; a clothing closet to help low-income students meet school uniform and "dress for success" goals; a school store; and other needed supplies and equipment.
- Nutrition assistance and a dental clinic for the families of low-income public school students.
- Cash awards each year for five outstanding rookie public-school teachers.
- Research to combat Alzheimer's disease.
- Training assistance dogs for people with disabilities
- Construction of a Habitat for Humanity house.
- International health, water supply, and economic development projects in Sierra Leone, Honduras, Guyana, Moldova and Ukraine.
For more on causes Wilmington Rotary Club supports, see Our Projects page.
Our 2026 Sponsors
2026 Friends of Rotary
- Anonymous
- Cathy Barlow, CLB Consulting Partners
- David Brown
- Butler & Butler, LLP — Algernon L. Butler, III
- Calvary Memorial Cemetery
- Capital Nissan of Wilmington
- Coastal Beverage
- Martin Conley
- Albert & Paula Corbett
- The Cotton Exchange
- Mark & Amy DeLoach
- Terri Everett
- First National Bank
- Tom Hoggard
- Bob & Tiffany Kitchen
- Paul & Patricia Lawler
- Lisle Architecture
- Jay C. Martin
- Maus, Warwick & Mathews
- Brian & Lyelle McMerty
- John & Peggy Meehl
- Joe & Erin Payne
- REV Federal Credit Union
- Julie Rehder
- Gabe & Lisa Rich
- RB & Lynnie Richey
- Rockefeller Capital Management
- Marissa Ruehl
- Sawmill Catering Company
- Vicki & John Scott
- Self Skin Studio
- Donna & Brian Shiro
- Smith Group Advisors
- Southern Bank & Trust
- SouthState Bank
- Bert & Melanie Williams
