Commentary by Cindy Benedict
I know you’ve been on the edge of your seats wondering when to nominate someone for a Noblesville Volunteer Award. Well it’s time! Seriously, in the last two years we’ve honored 21 people for outstanding service. Three were of such high caliber that the State of Indiana also recognized them! So, who do you know with dedication, passion and a caring spirit to help others? Thank them with a nomination.
You can nominate within three categories. In the individual awards category, there is the Lifetime Achievement, All-Around, Faith-Based, Youth and the Dr. Earl Brooks Environmental Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement. In the corporate category, companies and nonprofits can be nominated for All-Around Corporate Volunteerism or the Exemplary Green Business Award. Groups can be nominated for an Exemplary Service Learning Project or for an Exemplary Green Project.
A few ground rules – this program is only for Noblesville residents or Noblesville based organizations. You can nominate more than one person or group, but you have to pick one category for each. So, you can nominate Aunt Matilda for All-Around, Uncle Henry for Faith-Based and the scout troop for tutoring, but you can’t nominate Aunt Matilda for all of them. You can self-nominate but you can’t nominate for volunteerism related to a political candidate or ballot initiative.
Please tell us about your volunteer with stories and numbers. How many hours, or how many people they’ve impacted matters, but so does their story on why they volunteer and why they volunteer where they do. Pictures are wonderful and are encouraged. Nonprofits can be nominated as though they are a business (which they are – they hire, fire and spend), but it has to be about their employee volunteer program. Otherwise, the nonprofit should nominate outstanding individual volunteers that serve at their organization. Finally, you can nominate with the person’s help or you can surprise them. If a person is not selected we only notify the nominator so you can do this quietly.
So download the application and get busy. You will find the application online at www.cityofnoblesville.org and they are due by March 27.
It is always wonderful to recognize great volunteers but we need to know who they are first. They often serve the community “under the radar” and this gives us a chance to thank them for all they do to make Noblesville such a great place.
