Kathleen Doherty-Peck, the director of the town’s Senior and Social Services Department, won an award from the Rotary Club of Montville last month for her “effort and accomplishments in helping the Montville community.”

The club gave Doherty-Peck the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship Award, citing in a news release her effort to collect more than 800 food baskets and toys for more than 500 children during the 2015 Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

When Doherty-Peck joined the department more than 20 years ago, the holiday food basket program limited collections to 25 baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She eliminated the cut-off, allowing the number of donations to increase to the more than 800 baskets provided last year.

Doherty-Peck also personally picks up most of the food donations that fill the town’s food pantry, raised more than $168,000 through grants and donations last fiscal year, and has worked to keep programs for seniors in town free of cost.

“Kathleen Doherty-Peck goes above and beyond in the position of the Director of Senior and Social Services. Her dedication to the people of Montville amplifies Rotary’s motto of ‘service above self,’” the club said in a news release.