Franciscan Sister Receives Rotary's Highest Honor.

The Huntley Rotary Club recently awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship to Sister June Does of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart Convent in Elgin. 

According to Huntley Rotary, the award is named after the founder of Rotary. It is the highest honor a Rotary club can bestow. The award acknowledges “service above self” through work performed locally and around the world.

Does has been working as a development executive at Provena Saint Joseph Hospital in Elgin for the past 30 years. She helps to organize fundraising events and seeks donations for the hospital. Even at the age of 83, she still works 20 hours a week at the hospital.

An endowment fund at the hospital in her name has raised $550,000.

“This fund will provide some of the resources to address the needs of my hospital,” Does said. “I find in that fact a source of solace and a measure of achievement, the true accomplishments of my life’s work.” 

Only the interest on the money in the fund is now spent on nursing education and small equipment for the hospital. Does said she would like to raise the fund’s amount to $1 million before she retires.

“We’re already halfway there,” she noted.

 Does established the tradition of “casual Fridays” at the hospital in 1995. In exchange for wearing casual clothes on Friday, each worker gives $2 a week to the Community Crisis Center and the St. Joseph Church food ministry. Over $100,000 has been raised since the tradition was started. 

While Chicago winters can be harsh at times, they are not as brutal as the winters Does experienced while she was growing up in Buffalo, New York.

“I called it Cold Country,” Does said. “It was near Lake Erie, and the weather was colder than Chicago. Where I lived, there was an 18-mile road that could take you up to Canada. I’ve been to Canada several times.”

Does grew up during the Great Depression. She was inspired to become a nun by her second grade teacher, Sister Josephine.

“When my father was out of work, Sister Josephine helped to find clothes for me,” Does said. “We always got breakfast at school.”

Does entered the order at age 22. She taught catechism for one year and realized that she preferred working in the healthcare industry. She became an X-ray technician and worked in hospitals and missions in California before coming to Provena St. Joseph. 

“The hospital is a wonderful place,” Does said. “I appreciate our leaders and the other people who work here. Everyone is a contributor."