Nominations Being Taken For United Way Awards

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The United Way of Southwest Michigan is taking nominations for its annual volunteer awards. Volunteer United Manager Julee Laurent tells WSJM News the organization gives out three volunteer awards each fall.

“One is the Margaret B. Upton Volunteer Leadership Award, and this honor is given to a volunteer who has a long standing history of volunteerism, a diverse wealth of experience, and just has gone above and beyond.”

That’s the big one that comes with $3,500 the winner can donate to any charity. There’s also the Emerging Volunteer Award for those with around two years of service to the community, and the Sustaining Volunteer Award for those with more than five. Laurent says the United Way relies on volunteers.

“We couldn’t do any of the work that we do without the volunteers. Last year, we had over 2,200 volunteers serving over 17,000 hours, and when you tally that, it’s about $430,000 worth of man hours.”

However, Laurent says someone doesn’t specifically have to be a United Way volunteer to qualify for an award. You can nominate anyone who has served the community. Those nominations are being taken through August 16. You can submit them right here.