Peabody Health Director Named Rotary Club Hero

PEABODY, MA — Peabody Health Director Sharon Cameron's work to keep Peabody residents safe during the coronavirus health crisis has made her a Peabody Rotary Club "Local Hero."

The Rotary Club of Peabody is honoring Cameron with a Paul Harris Fellow — one of the highest awards a Rotary can bestow — as part of Rotary District's "Celebration of Heros" on Nov. 11 at Danversport Yacht Club.

The Rotary said it nominated Cameron for her "undeniably tireless work and continuing efforts to keep the City of Peabody safe for its residents, workers and visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic."

"Our community is very fortunate to have Sharon Cameron as director of Public Health," Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt said of Cameron's nomination. "Her talent, experience, and wisdom have served our residents extremely well during the Covid pandemic and throughout her tenure in Peabody.

"She is most deserving of this prestigious recognition from the Rotary Club of Peabody."

The Rotary Club said Cameron said she was "honestly speechless" when informed of the award.

"This is such an incredible honor and I truly appreciate your recognizing our work during the pandemic," Cameron said in a Club statement. "I view the recognition as rightfully belonging to my whole team and we are so honored to have our work recognized."

Cameron has been involved in public health for 32 years. She said her job shifted dramatically from ensuring food security, access to preventative health programs, health homes and behavioral health services to also helping the city navigate the pandemic 20 months ago.

"Our team at the Peabody Health Department has worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and I am extremely proud of their professionalism, knowledge, and compassion," she said.

Cameron said her goals now are "to see a significant increase in our community vaccination rates."

"Vaccination is the most important thing people can do right now to protect themselves and our community and get us back on the road to normal."

For more information about the Rotary Club of Peabody go here.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)