Smoky River Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) is seeking assistance from the public to nominate volunteers for this year’s volunteer appreciation awards.
The awards are an annual tradition that is meant to recognize community members who go above and beyond to enrich the lives of their fellow residents by volunteering for various programs, making the community a better place to live.
“While we do our best to recognize the volunteers there is no way for us to know about everything that our communities’ volunteers are doing,” says FCSS community program coordinator Anita Portsmouth.
“We rely on others to help in the nomination process to ensure deserving individuals are recognized.”
Portsmouth says they have had volunteers recognized for a variety of things including being a member of various volunteer boards, being a helpful neighbour who helped get mail and groceries, and various other acts of kindness and support for their fellow community members.
“Nominations are open now,” says Portsmouth. “People can nominate a candidate by clicking on the link posted to our Facebook page and answering the questions for the nomination.”
Smoky River FCSS is their Facebook page name, and Portsmouth urges anyone who knows someone deserving to go online and nominate them. Categories this year include Volunteer-of-the-Year, Youth Volunteer-of-the-Year, Volunteer Family-of-the-Year, and Lifetime Volunteer.
Portsmouth adds in recognition of the nominated volunteers, FCSS will host a Volunteer Appreciation Evening in Donnelly on May 30. She says that details for the event have not been finalized.
“Volunteers are the heart of our community,” Portsmouth concludes.
“Volunteers have built and maintained many of our community halls, museums, churches and parks. They put many, many hours of volunteer hours so that we have sports, field trips and more for our children.”
She adds the Agricultural Society, Royal Purple, Fire Department, Food Bank and other community groups exist because of volunteers.
“They are the neighbours that brought food for a grieving family, the teenager that shoveled the driveway for someone who couldn’t do it themselves, and the gentleman that stopped to help a young woman stuck in her driveway in the winter,” Portsmouth says.
“Volunteers are what keeps our community a community. Imagine a community without halls, parks, recreation facilities, after-school programs for children and a school without field trips, playgrounds and much more.”
Deadline to nominate a deserving individual is May 13.
Portsmouth says if individuals do not have Facebook that they can go to the FCSS office in the Town of Falher building to get assistance filling out the survey.
Emily Plihal
Local Journalism
Initiative Reporter