The Annual Okotoks Volunteer Leadership Awards is on the hunt for inspiring volunteers who have left an impact on the community.
“This allows us to not only celebrate and recognize those who are excelling and showing great leadership in what they’re doing, but it also gives us an opportunity to promote volunteering throughout our community,” said Sian Anderson, Okotoks community wellness and volunteer administrator. “[The awards] are a really great opportunity and the awards event itself is a very inspiring evening. You see the best of our community.”
Nomination for the Leadership Awards are open until March 27, with the awards ceremony taking place on April 18.
The awards, first established in 1996 during National Volunteer Week, celebrate the value of volunteering in the community, and how these actions can encourage other to get involved to help make the community better.
The event includes two awards the Leaders of Tomorrow award and the Heart of Okotoks award.
The Heart of Okotoks awards recognizes inspirational individuals, groups, families or business who are active in the community and practice leadership, passion and commitment towards creating a better Okotoks.
The Leaders of Tomorrow is designed to celebrate youth under the age of 18 who have made an outstanding contribution to the community.
All nominees are recognized for their contribution to the community in effort to show that the people of Okotoks are aware of their positive effect on the community, said Anderson.
She said that they are looking for nominees who display leadership, passion and commitment to volunteering for the community. Anderson said that typically anywhere from 30 to 60 people are nominated.
The Leaders of Tomorrow award is presented to three youths attending school in Okotoks: one from elementary, one from junior high and one from senior high.
“The Leaders of Tomorrow category is so important, because those youths are going to grow up to be the adults that support and enhance our community. Encouraging them in what they are doing now is going to ensure that they are dedicated to their community throughout their life,” said Anderson.
The high school recipient of the Leaders of Tomorrow award will receive a $500 bursary and attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards in Canmore.
The Okotoks Rotary Club actively encourages youth to participate in volunteering in the community because it is good for everyone involved, said Patricia Henderson, representative of the Okotoks Rotary Club.
“It is inspiring to listen to some of these young people talk. You listen to their speeches and you literally sit there and think, ‘these kids are going to be leaders of tomorrow,’” said Henderson. “You’re just blown away by these young people.”
A diverse range of volunteer work qualifies students for the award including participation at school, in the community, in sports and in fine arts.
The uniting thread is that nominees are dedicated volunteers who inspire the spirit of giving back in others.
Students can be nominated by individuals, community groups, churches, schools and voluntary organizations.
“Defiantly after winning it [The Leadership Award] at such a young age it defiantly opened up opportunities for myself just being able to see that volunteering can take so many different forms,” said Gabby Gibbs, this year’s awards key note speaker.
Gibbs was the recipient of the Leaders of Tomorrow award in Grade 7 and in Grade 11. She said winning the award inspired her commitment to volunteering from the local to the global level.
“I love volunteering in my community and I love the volunteers I’ve met within our town,” said Gibbs. “I hope the awards continue to inspire young kids because it defiantly inspired me to become the volunteer and person I am today.”
All nominees will receive a nomination certificate and package, paired with having their name published in the Western Wheel during National Volunteer Week. The Annual Volunteer Leadership Awards Ceremony will take place on Wednesday, April 18.
The deadline to nominate volunteers is Tuesday, March 27 and the selection committee will begin reviewing nominees on Thursday, March 29.
“Our selection panel has a very tough job. They get to sit there and review [nominees] which is always a very rewarding experience, but they do have difficult decision ahead of them,” said Anderson.
