The Passing of PDG Wayne Cusick

 

Wayne Cusick, Past District Governor and Founder of the Paul Harris Society, peacefully took his last breath at 11:25 am on Wednesday, October 30 at his home in La Jolla.  I was there with his wife Lee Ann and both daughters and his brother, Rick.  Services for Wayne will be held on November 17 at 1:00 pm at St. Pauls Lutheran Church located at 1376 Felspar Street, San Diego, CA  92109.  Services will be followed by a reception at the Pacific Beach home of Jennifer and Steve Grebing (daughter and son-in-law).  Directions will be provided at the church services.

 

Wayne was my immediate successor as District Governor and I then served as his Rotary Foundation Chair.  As such we worked closely together and developed a strong friendship based on our common interests in Rotary.  Wayne succeeded me as Foundation Chair serving for the next four years.  During that time, he felt compelled to increase giving to The Rotary Foundation by creating a new program that would take our individual giving to a  new level and give proper recognition of the donor's generosity.  By 1998, District 5340 was becoming increasingly involved in Matching Grants and Wayne was concerned that we would not have sufficient contributions  to The Rotary Foundation to meet the demand.  Wayne stated "It was time to raise the bar." Thus, sparked by his idea of creating a new level of recognition for Rotarians contributing $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation (for annual giving or restricted giving) and calling it the Paul Harris Society.  He decided that he would administer this program in our District as a pilot program.  Wayne even designed the Paul Harris Society lapel pin to fit with one's Rotary pin.

 

Wayne introduced the new program at our District Foundation Seminar held at the Salk Institute in the fall of 1998.  During the first year, 55 Rotarians in our District participated in the program and in subsequent years, Society membership fluctuated between 150 and 200 Rotarians.  The number of major donors in our District also began to increase at an accelerated pace.

 

In the early 2000s, through Wayne's effort and with the help of his wife, Lee Ann, word spread to other districts about the Paul Harris Society.  Wayne and Lee Ann staffed booths at International Conventions and sent hundreds of emails responding to inquiries about the new Society.  In 2006, the Foundation Trustees recognized the Paul Harris Society as on official recognition and fund-raising program to be administered by the districts  This action, along with a mention in the Rotarian magazine, accelerated the interest.  In 2013, the Foundation Trustees adopted the Paul Harris Society as one of its official programs.

 

Wayne would be proud to know that thanks to his vision, the Paul Harris Society has grown into a distinguished, world-wide group of philanthropic leaders.  Rotary now reports that since becoming an official recognition program, it has grown to over 23,000 embers in 141 countries.  Although less than two percent of Rotarians are registered with Rotary as Paul Harris Society members, in 2018-19 they collectively gave over $30 million to The Rotary Foundation, accounting for over 16 percent of total giving.  Moreover, donors who give at the Paul Harris Society level ($1,000 or more - registered and those not registered) together gave over $80 million, representing over one-third of total contributions in 2018-19.  The value of this program in current terms is self-evident in these figures.  In addition, this group promises to have tremendous impact on The Rotary Foundation's future as they continue to give and invite others to join  The Rotary Foundation is stronger now and will be much more so in the future.  Thank you Wayne Cusick for your vision and tremendous work.