SAINT JOHN - Rotary District Governor Gordon Dempsey is pleased to announce that Dr. Linda Hudson of Miramichi is the recipient of a prestigious "Service Above Self" award from Rotary International. This is only the second time in its history it has been awarded to a Rotarian from District 7810.

Created in 1991, the "Service Above Self" award is Rotary's highest honor for individual Rotarians. This award recognizes up to 150 Rotarians annually who have demonstrated exemplary humanitarian service, with an emphasis on personal volunteer efforts and active involvement in helping others through Rotary. The award can only be presented by the current Rotary International President or their delegate. District Governor Dempsey was "pleased to have nominated a candidate of this calibre. Linda is a positive and caring individual from whom we can all learn."

A native of Newfoundland and a graduate of Memorial University's Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Hudson has been a very active member of the Rotary Club of Newcastle since 2003. Despite a busy medical practice, she is very involved with the Miramichi Rotary Pond Hockey Tournament, helping to set up, serve food throughout the weekend, and tear down at the end. She is Chair of the club's Foundation Committee, with donations to the "Every Rotarian Every Year" campaign on the rise under her leadership After raising four children of her own, Dr. Hudson has continued to host exchange students from China, Sweden, and Mexico. She has also organized fund-raising activities for international youth exchanges, Camp Rotary and Shelter Box (http://www.shelterboxcanada.org/). Dr. Hudson is a previous Paul Harris Fellow recipient.

Prior to becoming a Rotarian, Dr. Hudson and her husband Dr. Carl Hudson travelled to Papua New Guinea many times in humanitarian roles relating to health care. They have fund raised for such trips to bring needed supplies and equipment to reach many of the remote areas. Through "Doctors Without Borders" they assisted with fund raisers to help out in other third world countries. In 2007, Dr. Hudson participated on a team helping to establish medical services for impoverished villages on Haiti's north coast - today a permanent medical clinic operates from this location.

On a local level, Dr. Linda Hudson was instrumental in starting an addictions recovery clinic for the Miramichi area. Prior to public funding being committed, she rallied other health care professionals to assist patients with opiate addictions. She was one of the key stakeholders who lobbied for a provincially funded methodone clinic for Miramichi and the surrounding area. Today, she remains one of the primary physicians for this clinic and serves on provincial and national advisory committees for addictions.

Rotary Club of Newcastle President, Michel Lafrance, was pleased to be present when his fellow Rotarian and friend received this recognition. "You don't get this award for giving a lot of money to Rotary or for doing a good job as an executive member. This award goes to a kind individual who is doing more than their share to make this world a better place", says Lafrance. "We are so very happy to include her as a member of our club."

Rotary District 7810 (http://www.ridist7810.org/) includes almost 1300 members from 40 Rotary Clubs in New Brunswick and part of Maine. Rotary International (http://www.rotary.org/) includes more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide.