LYNNFIELD –– Former A Healthy Lynnfield Substance Use Prevention Coordinator Peg Sallade is the recipient of the 2024 Lynnfield Rotary Robert C. Wood Memorial Hero Award. This award is presented to a person who has demonstrated outstanding service to our community and neighbors. The award, formerly named the Unsung Hero Award, is named in honor of Wood, a longtime supporter of Rotary and a late past district governor. 

“I am thrilled to have been nominated for this prestigious award by my Rotary colleagues. Lynnfield Rotary is a small, yet mighty organization that does a tremendous amount of community service work,” Sallade said. “It is an honor to have worked with them and to have served the community of Lynnfield.”

“Peg is so very deserving of the Rotary Hero Award.  Her passion and commitment to A Healthy Lynnfield’s mission has made Lynnfield a better community,” Select Board and fellow Rotarian Dick Dalton said. “Rotary teaches us ‘service above self’ and Peg exemplifies that in everything that she does. During her time as a Lynnfield Rotarian, she was an invaluable contributor to the many projects that Rotary did for the benefit of our town and beyond.”

Sallade is a certified prevention specialist who resides in Wakefield.  Her career in public health began more than 30 years ago, but most recently, she spent five-plus years building the Town of Lynnfield’s Substance Use Prevention Coalition known as A Healthy Lynnfield.  In her early days in Lynnfield, she secured federal funding for the organization’s first five years through Drug-Free Communities and Partnership For Success grants to get the program off the ground. She recruited volunteers from various sectors across the community and worked tirelessly to foster community collaboration efforts to prevent and reduce substance use and misuse.  She has been instrumental in starting A Healthy Lynnfield youth councils at both Lynnfield Middle School and Lynnfield High School, bringing evidence-based parent education to the community, and ensuring Lynnfield is collecting pertinent data and adjusting priorities accordingly. 

Prior to retiring this fall, Peg once again hit a home run, securing another five years of Drug Free Communities funding and four years of STOP ACT grant funding, focused on underage alcohol use.  In all of the communities Peg has worked in over the years, she has been the leader in making substance use prevention a top priority.

Dalton said Sallade’s “guidance was invaluable” in helping the Think of Michael Foundation take shape.

“Not known to most is that Peg was instrumental in helping me and my family conceptualize how the Think of Michael Foundation could make a difference in the lives of those struggling with addiction,” Dalton said. “While I certainly will miss her, I congratulate her on being the recipient of this award and wish her happiness and good health in her retirement.”

Sallade received the award at a ceremony for the recipients of the Robert C. Wood Hero Award for Rotary District 7930 at the Danversport Yacht Club on Nov. 14.

In commemoration of the award, Sallade received a pin, certificate, and the Paul Harris Award medal. The Wood Award is the highest award in Rotary. Paul Harris is the founder of Rotary. The Paul Harris Fellow recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or have contributions made in their name, of $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. A contribution to The Rotary Foundation has been made in Sallade’s name.

The Paul Harris recipient goes above and beyond in serving Rotary’s communities in a true demonstration of the Rotary motto, “Service Above Self.”