This year's "Service Above Self Award of the Fuquay-Varina Rotary Club was presented to Pastor Elaine Lilliston of the Fuquay-Varina United Methodist Church. Besides her tireless work at her church with the many mission projects that that church is involved in like counseling, feeding the hungry, Pastor Elaine Lilliston is also the Founder and Board member of the Fuquay-Varina Youth Initiative. She was a great supporter of "Family Aid" now called "Southern Wake Faith Community in Action" or SWFCA, a local faith based organization that provides emergency financial assistance to needy people and still gives that organization good support through her church. According to the Rotary members, it is through people like Elaine Lilliston and her unselfish work that a community like Fuquay-Varina remains a healthy community and a good place to live in.

Since the first Rotary Convention in 1910 Rotary has put great emphasis on the idea that helping others is most profitable to those who are doing the helping.

This idea was put into words as the first Rotary motto "He profits most who serves his fellows best," adopted in 1911, through the revised motto "Service, not self approved in 1950, to the present motto accepted in 1989 "Service Above Self."

Rotarians in more than 100 years have diligently, dutifully, and joyfully held up these mottos by serving their local communities, regions, country and the world in host of projects that were beneficial to the recipients. They have completed projects or contributed to Polio-plus, shelter boxes, building houses, providing pontoons, working towards peace, group study exchanges, youth exchanges, ambassadorial scholarships, Interact, Rotaract, HIV/Aids, and more.