The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is accepting nominations for the 2023 Humanitarian Award, which salutes a southwest Missouri resident for their service to make their community a better place.
The award will be given on Nov. 28, 2023, as part of National Philanthropy Day at the Doubletree Hotel in Springfield.
The nominees should be “an individual who has the courage to take decisive action, the wisdom to face aggressive challenges, and the willingness to sacrifice to affect these causes that have a long-term impact on the betterment of the community.” The award is for living people only; any posthumous nominations will be discarded and not considered for the award.
According to the endowment behind the award, the selection committee considers: all people in Southwest Missouri regardless of age, sex, or religion; the visibility of the cause or person in the community so others will be inspired by the choice; the person chosen may be a volunteer or employed by a charitable organization, but the quality of their effort shall exceed any position they are in; and the quality of person’s personal involvement with others in need.
The award has been given since 1990 in a partnership with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. The award was founded by the late philanthropist Jewell Thompson Schweitzer.
While most of the award winners are Springfield-area focused, there have been winners outside of the Springfield area including Paul and Cyndy Teas of Camp Barnabas in 1999.
The deadline for nominations is noon on Friday, Sept. 22. All nominations are made online at formstack.com/forms/CFO-humanitarian and can include two uploaded letters of support for the nominee.
More information about the award can be found at cfozarks.org.
