Some special people are featured in a special section of Friday’s Morning Star.
The paper has produced a separate section to commemorate the first Community Leader Awards, where 30 residents were recognized for their special contributions to the North Okanagan.
“The Community Leader Awards were created to recognize and honour the commitments and efforts that are essential to our growing communities,” said Morning Star publisher Ian Jensen.
“Some of these stories will tug at your heartstrings, others will bring a smile to your face.”
The awards are the brainchild of Bruce McAuliffe, president of Black Press South.
McAuliffe introduced the awards in Surrey and it has been adopted by other newspapers throughout the Black Press organization.
“Being our inaugural year, we had no idea what kind of response we would have in the form of nominations,” said Jensen.
“We ended up with more than 100 nominations.”
People were nominated in the following categories: coach, community builder, mentor, volunteer, courage, above and beyond, service organization volunteer, emergency service, youth volunteer and environmental leader.
There was one person selected as Leader of the Year.
The awards were handed out at a special gala evening at Durali Villa.
All of the winners’ stories, plus those of the finalists in each category, can be found in Friday’s special Community Leader Awards supplement.