The Ithaca Sunrise Rotary Club honored Ann M. Colt and Rev. Nathaniel Wright for their outstanding community service by recognizing them as Paul Harris Fellows. The motto of Rotary, with more than 33,000 clubs in over 200 countries, is “Service Above Self .” Honoring non-Rotarians as Paul Harris Fellows is one way of recognizing the value that individuals who live the ideal of service bring to our communities. Paul Harris was the founder of Rotary International. 

Since 1997, Ann M. Colt has served as the Chief Development Officer for United Way of Tompkins County. Under her leadership, along with hundreds of dedicated volunteers, talented staff members, thousands of generous donors, and numerous non-profit organizations, more than $25,000,000 has been raised to support health and human service programs. Ann is a member of the Ithaca Downtown Business Women, National Association of Professional Women, and the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals; serving on its Board of Directors for six years and as Chapter President in 2004. She has been a presenter for Leadership Tompkins, United Way Worldwide, and served on the Marketing Committee for United Way of New York State.  She currently serves on the Advisory Board at Museum of the Earth and in the past she served on the Board of Directors for the Human Services Coalition.  Ann was treasurer of the Lansing Central School District's Parent Teacher Student Organization, a Liberty Partnership Mentor, and served on the District's Shared Decision-Making Team. She was a member of the Town of Lansing Water and Sewer Board, responsible for getting municipal services for several areas in that community. For many years Ann and her family delivered Meals-on-Wheels throughout Tompkins County.

Rev. Nathaniel Wright has been pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Ithaca, since 2004. In addition to his ministry to individuals and families in the community, he is known for his ability to facilitate communication and build working relationships between diverse groups.  He organized and continues to facilitate on-going peace conversations within the community after the 2010 Greenwood shooting. He participates in on-going discussions of  race equity issues between the Ithaca City School Board and the community at large and serves on the Equity and Inclusion Leadership Council. He serves on the Hospicare Board of Directors and the Cayuga Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors. In addition, Rev. Wright created an after school program at Calvary Baptist utilizing student volunteers from Ithaca College and Cornell University. He has hosted an eight week series of community workshops on how to manage your finances and a three part community health fair.  Rev. Wright was instrumental in joining Calvary Baptist Church with St. Paul's United Method Church to hold an annual Tear Down the Wall benefit concert to foster closer relationships between the Calvary and St. Paul's communities while raising funds for a mutually agreed upon charity. And he was instrumental in organizing a get out the vote effort that provided transportation to and from polling booths on election day for the elderly and those without access to transportation.

The Ithaca Sunrise Rotary Club is proud to recognize the contributions of these outstanding individuals during its 25th Anniversary celebration.