Just as St. Albert’s Community Information and Volunteer Centre (CIVC) is starting to collection nominations for its annual volunteer awards, one of the province’s major energy suppliers has joined up with a media group to recognize a dedicated volunteer.
Direct Energy and the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (AWNA) have sent out an open invitation for anyone and everyone to give a huge shout out to the province’s spectacular volunteers. This is the sixth year for their joint Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award, a prize that has yet to be awarded to anyone from the metro Edmonton area.
Lynzey MacRae, Direct Energy’s public relations specialist, explained that giving your time and talent to worthy causes is in itself its own reward but shining a spotlight on people who help people is what really promotes the practice to those who don’t do it already.
“Essentially what we do … is ask Albertans to nominate someone that they would consider the best volunteer, someone who really exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism.”
“Each year we support the program, we’re amazed at the number of heart-warming stories we receive about Albertans and their spirit of generosity,” said Tanis Kozak, Direct Energy’s vice-president and general manager. “We all know someone in our local community who goes out of his or her way to improve the life of fellow citizens. It’s this contribution, often unrecognized, that expresses the true spirit of volunteerism in action.”
George Brown, president of the AWNA, called the award a “great opportunity to recognize invaluable volunteers and to benefit your community.”
The Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award is open to residents who reside within a community served by an AWNA member newspaper such as the St. Albert Gazette. People can nominate themselves or another individual or group. Nominations should be no longer than 750 words in length and must provide specific details about the nominee’s contributions and how the community has benefited. The nominations also need to profile the designated organization and how that organization would use the $5,000 donation.
The contest runs through National Volunteer Week (April 18 to 24) with nominations closing on May 7. Each of the four semi-finalists will receive special recognition plus a $1,000 cash grant that will be donated to a worthy community organization. The winner will receive a $1,000 cash prize plus a commemorative award and an article and photo printed in AWNA member newspapers across the province. He or she will also designate which organization should be the beneficiary of a $5,000 cash grant from the contest sponsors.
Volunteer Citizen of the Year Award rules and details can be found online at www.awna.com or www.directenergy.com/vcoy, or can be picked up at AWNA member newspaper offices including the Gazette located at 25 Chisholm Avenue in Campbell Park.
