The award is named after the late Linda Singer-Berrett, a local educator and Park City Rotary’s first female president.
Rob Harter came to Utah in 2010 to operate the Christian Center.
He was nominated for this week’s honor by Park City Mayor Nann Worel. The mayor had to be out of town but spoke to Harter in a recorded message.
“I love your passion, and your compassion," Worel said. "And then there’s your energy level. Quite frankly, you exhaust me. It’s annoying at times to try to keep up with you because you never wear down. I’ve decided that you simply don’t sleep.”
The Rotarians noted Harter has served as a board member or the chair for the Park City Interfaith Council, Mountainlands Community Housing Trust, the Urban Indian Center, the Utah Nonprofits Association, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission of Utah.
A board member for the Christian Center, Byron Russell, said there could be many reasons Harter is receiving the honor.
“I don’t know if he’s qualified because he’s been such an integral part of the community and has overseen a $10 million campus at Park City for the Christian Center of Park City’s renovation, or that they’ve expanded to Heber," Russell said. "I don’t know if Rob’s qualified only because he’s taken 12,000 donors to 26,000 donors since I’ve met him in 2012.”
Russell added the Christian Center has attracted national attention.
“We had the audacity to invite Michelle Obama to come to the Christian Center of Park City to honor a lot of the great work that we were doing with obesity, as well as the Goshute Tribe," Russell said. "And to this day, every year Michelle Obama asks, how’s the Christian Center doing, and how are the Goshutes doing.”
The Rotary audience also heard from Jaime Mira, the Center’s Park City pantry manager, who said Harter is always finding new ways of helping community members at the point of need.
Accepting the award, Harter said it’s been amazing to see how the center has grown from over a dozen years ago.
“We had eight paid staff at the time, and now 13 years later, we’re up to 72 paid staff," Harter said. "We’ve got two campuses, another warehouse we just now signed a lease with, Mountain Trails. It’s been so fun to see this place grow and multiply. The ability to provide all of these services, really, we provide a safety net of services for our community, from our food pantries to our thrift stores, to rent assistance program, our mental health counseling.”
Harter and Rotary’s Volunteer Citizen of the Year, former school board and county councilmember Kim Carson, will appear as grand marshals in the Miner’s Day Parade set for Sept. 4 on Main Street.