If you know a volunteer who's positively contributed to the City of Cold Lake, time is running out to nominate them to be recognized for their hard work.
The deadline for the 2019 Cold Lake Volunteer Appreciation Awards is Friday, March 1.
"For any community, having volunteers are the lifeline to do so much," expressed Mayor Craig Copeland. "It's what makes any community great, and we've got a great bunch of people that step forward and help out in Cold Lake."
There are eight categories for volunteers to be nominated in, including rising star, coach of the year, and community impact. Nominees must reside in the city or the MD of Bonnyville, must have contributed to the community, and cannot receive any compensation for the service provided.
The awards ceremony is on Sunday, April 7 at the Lakeland Inn at 12 p.m. It marks the beginning of National Volunteer Week in Canada.
While she believes volunteers should be celebrated throughout the year, Leanne Draper, volunteer services program facilitator for the Cold Lake and District FCSS, sees the occasion as an opportunity to praise those who offer up their time.
"It's a special week that we put aside to honour and celebrate our volunteers for what they do for the community, and the incredible impact they have on the community," she said.
Copeland added, "There's so many people that go unnoticed in Cold Lake. I encourage people to nominate someone, even if it's for a one-time (volunteering event). There's certainly people that don't like to be recognized... but they do so much. I think people should look at their community members, and it's great to recognize those people."
Draper noted the appreciation event "keeps getting better as we get better at hosting them" each year.
"It's really great because it gets all different people from all different organizations together. You get people that volunteer at five different organizations, or you might get people that just volunteer at one or two... We get this really interesting group together... They get to share their experiences, have a few laughs, and get to learn about each other and each organization or activity that they're involved in. It really provides a really good learning opportunity for volunteers and volunteer organizations in the community."
Copeland and Draper encouraged everyone to attend, even if you're not a nominee.
"A lot of love and attention goes into it. For people that come out to it, they always have a good time, and I would just like to encourage those folks who've always attended to keep on attending. If you've never attended, and are thinking about it, come on out and do it," exclaimed Draper.
Anyone interested in submitting a nomination can visit the Cold Lake and District FCSS location, or go to www.coldlake.com at the FCSS tab and a form is available under volunteer services. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, March 5.
