The Shawano Area Community Foundation is seeking nominations for its annual volunteer awards event.
The foundation’s seventh annual Celebration of Giving awards gala is scheduled for April 12 at The Gathering banquet hall in Shawano.
Nominations are due Feb. 5 for five awards: Shawano Community Service Award, Health Care Volunteer Award, Youth Volunteer Award, Bill Mielke Volunteer Educator Award and Robert D. Nueske Wittenberg Community Service Award.
Nina Rouse, a board member for the foundation, said the awards event reinforces the organization’s mission of community improvement by honoring those who seek to achieve the same goal through their own volunteerism.
“They’re working to improve the community, too,” she said. “It is natural for us to recognize their efforts.”
Each award winner will be honored with a $1,000 donation to the community nonprofit organization of his or her choosing.
Sue Dionne, who won last year’s Shawano Community Service Award, said she was humbled by the experience, which also left her re-energized about wanting to continue her volunteerism.
“It really does stay with you,” she said.
Dionne was honored for her work with the Salvation Army of Shawano County and with Women of Today, another community service group.
The Shawano Community Service Award honors any individual from Shawano whose volunteer work has bettered the community, while the Health Care Volunteer Award honors a volunteer who improves health and well-being, the Youth Volunteer Award honors a teenager engaged in volunteerism, the Volunteer Educator Award honors a person or group dedicated to education, and the Wittenberg Community Service Award honors an individual or group improving Wittenberg’s quality of life.
Those submitting nominations are asked to describe a nominee’s contributions in 1,000 words or fewer.
Tickets to attend the April 12 awards gala are $25 each. About 300 people attended the event last year.
Rouse said a highlight of the evening is hearing each award winner discuss his or her volunteerism and commitment to the community.
“The event itself is really moving,” she said.
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