|
Nearly Half a Million
Votes cast for Volunteer of the Year
Photo: Darke County
Commissioners sign proclamation declaring April 10 - 16 National
Volunteer Week in Darke County during a meeting on 4/4/11.
The polls nearly came tumbling down for Hits 105.5 and HandsOn West
Central Ohio, including the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, this
weekend.
During only its second year, the Volunteer of the Year promotion
sponsored by the two groups in honor of National Volunteer Week is
seeing an overwhelming response by local residents casting votes for
their favorite community change agents. Over 431,000 votes had
been submitted for the 25 nominees from Darke, Logan, Miami and Shelby
Counties as of 4 p.m. on Sunday. As a result, the website began
reporting erroneous numbers to voters online. Hits 105.5
webmaster Nick Greve reported that the votes were coming in so
fast that the website could not keep up with updates for public
results, literally crashing the site's polls. Despite the
apparent glitch, Greve assured both groups that the integrity of the
votes were maintained “behind the scenes” and that accurate vote
tallies were readily available to promotion organizers. Voting
for the nominees will continue through midnight on April 6, and staff
from both Hits 105.5 and HandsOn West Central Ohio provided updates on
the number of votes cast for each nominee during Monday morning
Facebook posts and emails.
“The results that are coming in are awesome,” says Joe Laber, host of
the Joe Show on Hits 105.5. “We're at nearly half a million votes
and we still have two more days of voting to go! That's double
the entire population of our four-county area.”
“What's great about this award is that every single one of our 25
nominees is already a winner, and so is the community overall,” says
Nicolette Winner, HandsOn West Central Ohio Director. “Not only
are we thrilled to share the amazing stories of so many incredible
people who make a difference, but we hope that at least one other
person will be so inspired by these stories that they just have to
start volunteering too. That's what National Volunteer Week is
all about… Celebrating people in action. People really can
change the world, and they can start doing so right here at home.”
All nominees will be honored during a celebration of volunteers on
April 11 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at A Learning Place in Piqua, with one
overall winner announced for each county. Additional awards will
be presented to the RSVP Volunteer of the Year, Corporate Good Citizen
and Agency Partner of the Year for each county. HandsOn West
Central Ohio will also honor one individual with the Voice for
Volunteering award, recognizing the efforts of one prominent local
citizen in encouraging volunteerism. More than 125 people are
expected to attend this year's celebration, which kicks off a weeklong
celebration of National Volunteer Week.
For more information about HandsOn West Central Ohio, including the
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, visit www.handsonwestcentralohio.org
or follow the program on Facebook at www.facebook.com/handsonwestcentralohio.
Council on Rural Services …programs for innovative learning, provides
education, support, and volunteer services through Kids Learning
Place™, the Achievement Center for Educational Success, Gateway
Youth Programs, and HandsOn West Central Ohio in their nine county
service area. For more information on the organization and its programs
call 937-778-5220 or visit www.councilonruralservices.org.
|
