The deadline is Wednesday for Iowans to nominate someone in their community for this year’s Iowa Character Awards.
Amy Smit is spokeswoman for the Robert and Billie Ray Center at Drake University in Des Moines. Smit says it’s a breeze to nominate someone.
Just head to the website www.drake.edu/raycenter and click on the button for Iowa Character Award Nominations. “We try to keep the nomination form easy,” Smit says. “You’re going to tell us the answers to six questions and the six questions are all about the six pillars of character: caring, trustworthiness, fairness, respect, responsibility and citizenship.”
Anyone can submit a nomination, and Iowans, starting at age ten are eligible, as are companies, organizations, sports teams and communities. Nominations have to be submitted by the close of business on Wednesday and Smit hopes plenty of Iowans take a moment to single out the special folks in their lives who are deserving.
“There’s tons and tons of great people throughout Iowa and we want to recognize them,” Smit says. “You don’t have to look very far to hear negative stories and things that are going wrong in our world. We want to lift people up and talk about the good things and talk about the great Iowans who are showing the six pillars.” The awards will be presented July 29th at the Prairie Meadows Convention Center in Altoona.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)