Updated: Friday, 17 Oct 2008, 11:40 AM CDT
Published : Monday, 06 Oct 2008, 12:49 PM CDT
MOBILE, Ala. - We are looking for people who make a difference.... Indivivduals who have made the Mobile/Pensacola Gulf Coast a better place for us all.
In 1972, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr. and Sam Beard founded the American Institute for Public Service, a 501c3 public foundation, to establish a Nobel Prize for public and community service - The Jefferson Awards.
The Jefferson Awards are presented on two levels: national and local. National award recipients represent a "Who's Who" of outstanding Americans. On the local level, Jefferson Awards recipients are ordinary people who do extraordinary things without expectation of recognition or reward.
To help identify and celebrate these " Unsung Heroes", the Institute has developed a partnership with local media organizations throughout the nation.
To nominate a volunteer who has made our area a better place, simply fill out the form on the Jefferson Awards page . A panel of judges will review the nominations and select five to recieve a Jefferson Award Medallion at a special celebration. One of the five local recipients will be chosen to represent our area at the national awards event in Washington DC next June.