The spirit of volunteerism and community engagement thrives in the State of Tennessee, and the nonprofit community is leading the charge.
In recognition of their outstanding commitment to fostering volunteer involvement, Volunteer Tennessee recognized a nonprofit from each of the state’s Grand Divisions at its annual Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards (GVSA) celebration.
The Governor's Volunteer Stars Awards, an initiative from Volunteer Tennessee, encourages and promotes volunteerism by recognizing outstanding volunteers. In addition to the Business and Nonprofit categories, the Governor's Volunteer Stars Awards seeks to recognize individual volunteers from each of Tennessee's 95 counties.
To select the nonprofit honorees, Volunteer Tennessee asked the public to submit nominations through its website until December 8, 2023. Independent reviewers then evaluated the nominations and selected the honorees based on the needs addressed, the actions taken, and the impact of their efforts.
“Selecting a winner is very difficult for these awards, because they all are so impressive,” said Jason Scott, Volunteer Tennessee commissioner. “Helping choose the honorees was humbling because each nomination proves how many people are accomplishing great things through volunteerism in Tennessee. Congratulations to the honorees!”
Locally, the United Way of Greater Chattanooga (UWGC) was honored in the East Tennessee division. Since 1922, has been uniting people and resources to build a stronger, healthier community.
Their mission is to unite our community with a shared aspiration for the future - one where every child can thrive, and one where working families can break the cycle of financial hardship.
UWGC recently started taking advantage of employee downtime by offering asynchronous volunteer projects at work. They also harness the power of large groups to complete complex projects that would otherwise take far longer and cost much more. For example, in just one day a skilled volunteer group was able to complete a drainage project for a local nonprofit for just the cost of the materials.
Joining UWGC were fellow honorees Operation Stand Down Tennessee in Middle Tennessee and the Dyer County Office on Aging in West Tennessee.
The 2024 Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards Celebration is scheduled for February 16, 2025. If you know a business or nonprofit that does outstanding volunteer and community service work, watch Volunteer Tennessee’s website and social media accounts for the 2024 nominations later this year. To read about all the 2023 honorees, please visit www.volunteertennessee.net.