Residents or organizations wishing to honour a valued volunteer can now submit nominations for the City of Airdrie’s Volunteer of the Year awards.
“I think it still is, and always has been, the City of Airdrie’s philosophy that a lot of these things can’t be done without our volunteers,” said City of Airdrie Community Developer Kim Harris. “I think there are those volunteers who really stand out. The City really wants to thank them for going above and beyond.”
Awards in four categories will be handed out at a special gala in May 2017 at the Bert Church Live Theatre (BCLT). This is the first year the event will be held at the BCLT.
“(We wanted) to up our game a little bit and make (the gala) really special for our volunteers,” Harris said.
The four categories include the Leader of Tomorrow, awarded to a youth, 11 to 18 years of age, who demonstrates leadership within the city through volunteering. Nominees must attend a school within the Airdrie school attendance area.
The Ambassador Award is given to an individual or business, making a significant contribution to promoting the city. The Soul of Airdrie Award is given to an individual who has made an important contribution as a volunteer in the areas of art and culture, athletics, social and community services or governance. The Volunteer Advocate Award recognizes a not-for-profit or volunteer-run organization for its work in the community.
According to Harris, the City has given people more time to submit a nomination this year. Nominations are open until Jan. 16, 2017.
“I think that when we give people a bit more time they have more time to think about and gather the information that they need so we get a real true reading of what that volunteer did,” she said. “We wanted to start a little bit early for us so we had time to do all the processes before the awards.”
Nominations for the Airdrie Volunteer of the Year Awards are reviewed by the Community Services Advisory Board, which then makes the final decisions. The awards began in 2001 as the Volunteer of the Year Award, given to just an individual in recognition for their volunteer contribution.
Nominations can be done online and nomination criteria viewed on the City of Airdrie’s website, airdrie.ca
