Time running out for your Citizen of the Year entries
HURRY up and submit your nominations for the Herald GM Citizen of the Year award. You have only until noon tomorrow to do so.
The nominees will be narrowed down to a shortlist of 10 to 12 at the preliminary judging on Monday August 25. These people will be interviewed and profiled in The Herald next month and readers will also have a chance to vote for their favourite nominees. Voting lines will open in the first week of next month.
Five finalists will be chosen on September 30 in the second round of judging, with the overall winner named at a gala event at the Athenaeum in Belmont Terrace, Central, on October 31.
The Citizen of the Year Award was launched in 1989 and recognises an exceptional individual whose outstanding service positively contributes to the upliftment of the community in Nelson Mandela Bay and surrounding areas.
It was halted for six years from 1999 and relaunched in partnership with General Motors South Africa (GMSA) in 2005.
Alida Davis, 57, won last year for her commitment to helping the poor and destitute in Uitenhage. She runs a soup kitchen that serves 3000 people a week on average, and has also fostered 18 children over the years, besides raising her own four children. Her home also doubles as a place of safety when needed.
“This is my passion and I am going to continue until God decides to call me home,” she said after receiving the award.
Anyone living in The Herald’s circulation area, which extends from Nelson Mandela Bay to Mossel Bay, George, Graaff-Reinet and East London, can be nominated for the award.
Find the nomination form in our newspaper or here:
GMSA Foundation project coordinator and one of this year’s judges,Andre Forbes, said he would be looking for people who truly go beyond the call of duty to better the lives of those around them.
Nomination boxes have been placed at the following libraries: Algoa Park, Booysen Park, Gelvandale, Main Library in Central, New Brighton, Newton Park, Uitenhage, Walmer, West End, NMMU south and north campus library, as well as at the Business Chamber, KingfisherFM, the Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism office, the Mandela Bay Development Agency and BayFM. - Riaan Marais
