Northern Life continues to recognize Community Builders

For the past decade, Northern Life has been recognizing those who make Greater Sudbury a greater place.

On Feb. 21, they'll do it again.

The Community Builders Awards of Excellence are once again gearing up to honour leaders in arts, economic development, education, environment, health care, sports and recreation, young leader and Hall of Fame.

“To be eligible for a Community Builder Award of Excellence, a company, organization or individual must reside in and service the City of Greater Sudbury, and be established in the community for a minimum of three years,” Kimberely Wahamaa, operations manager of Northern Ontario Business, said.

"How will this individual or group be remembered by future generations for their contributions? What qualifies them as a visionary, having impact on the community? What awards or other special recognition has been given to the nominee?”

So far, 72 individuals and groups have been honoured. Some notable past winners include the Burgess Family and the Sudbury Wolves, Jean Hanson, the Nickel District Conservation Authority, Guy Labine, Cinéfest and Leo Therrien.

According to Wahamaa, the awards are an opportunity for residents who inspire to be recognized.

“We believe it is the essence and the power of our community,” she said. “Northern Life has chronicled and championed the growth and prosperity of our community for more than 35 years. The vision, creativity, spirit and hard work of many individuals, businesses, groups and organizations ignited this mission. We are proud to host the Community Builders Awards of Excellence to recognize these incredible community builders.”

Abbas Homayed, publisher of Northern Life, said the annual awards night is the “cornerstone” of the newspaper.

“One night a year we honour and applaud those in our community who have used their creativity, energy and resources to help one another and to pave the way for a better future,” he said. “For 10 years, we have celebrated this tradition and for 10 years, we have continued to be inspired, motivated and appreciative of all of our community builders, past, present and future.”

The event includes a call for nominations and judging process, an awards gala dinner, a special magazine-format souvenir program, a year-round website and video broadcast of the gala featuring winner profiles.

Nominations for the 2013 awards are now being accepted. A sample nomination and nomination forms with criteria are online at www.cbawards.ca.

The deadline is Nov. 20. Contact Wahamaa at [email protected] or Tara Dumais at [email protected] or 705-673-5667 ext. 304 for more information.