Officials with the Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year Award are encouraging Red Deerians to nominate someone they know who is giving back to the community.

Deadline for nominations is May 1st. The annual gala will take place June 2nd in Red Deer.

Officials say the cornerstone of these awards is volunteerism and leadership. The award recipients are people who possess the attributes, and have made contributions that have enduring effects on the community.

“There are lots of people in our community who give back and for the most part they go unrecognized because they don’t really want any kind of recognition. They are doing it for the right reasons,” said Dean Williams, past president of the Rotary Club of Red Deer and who also sits on the nomination committee for the event. “If people have a family member or friend who does great things in our community; they do deserve recognition.”

He added it the Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year Awards are important aspects of the community.

“I think a lot of times in the news there is a lot of negative and sad things happening. I think society always needs good things to be recognized.”

Last year, Shelia Bannerman was named Citizen of the Year and Stephanie AuBuchon was named the Young Citizen of the Year.

More information and nomination forms are available online at www.rotaryclubofreddeer.ca.

efawcett@reddeerexpress.com