In recognition of National and Michigan Volunteer Week, those who give their time and other resources were honored with a celebration at Michigan's Capitol on April 24, 2013. The annual Giving and Volunteering Celebration is hosted by the Michigan Community Service Commission, Council of Michigan Foundations, Michigan Campus Compact, Michigan Nonprofit Association, and Volunteer Centers of Michigan to celebrate the two million volunteers and philanthropists statewide. Awards were also presented to those who have demonstrated leadership in service to our state and their community."Our goal with Giving and Volunteering is to honor the ways that service and charitable giving help to build strong Michigan communities and a better state" said Donna Murray-Brown, President and CEO of the Michigan Nonprofit Association. "The nonprofit sector is fortunate to have a number of remarkable individuals, organizations, and communities statewide that are making a significant difference in our state through their service, gifts, and more."
Joining in the day's activities to celebrate and thank Michigan volunteers and philanthropists was Governor Rick Snyder, who presented the keynote address. The annual Giving and Volunteering Celebration also featured several award presentations, four of which were the 2013 Nonprofit Champion Awards. These awards were presented by the Michigan Nonprofit Association and Council of Michigan Foundations to dedicated lawmakers for their service to the nonprofit community. The lawmakers honored with this award include former State Representative Judson Gilbert II, current State Senator Mark Jansen, and State Representatives Vicki Barnett and Rudy Hobbs.
This year's celebration also marked the introduction of a new award from the Volunteer Centers of Michigan. The 2013 Volunteer Center of the Year Award recognizes the work of one local Volunteer Center that has made significant growth or is engaged in innovative initiatives in their community related to volunteer engagement.
"In the inaugural year of the award, the Volunteer Centers of Michigan is very excited to have presented Volunteer Kalamazoo with the Volunteer Center of the Year Award for their organization's use of new technology and deployment of Days of Service Projects," said Diana Algra, executive director of the Volunteer Centers of Michigan.
The Michigan Community Service Commission also presented two awards at the event to honor outstanding national service participants. Barbara Ernsberger, of Port Huron, was recognized with the Outstanding AmeriCorps Alum Award, while Art Nichols of Kalamazoo was presented with the Outstanding Senior Corps Member Award.
"Barbara and Art represent the best of two of our state's strongest and most influential national service programs; AmeriCorps and Senior Corps. As a result of dedicated national service members like Barbara and Art, these programs are assisting and strengthening Michigan communities across the state," said Paula Kaiser VanDam, executive director of the Michigan Community Service Commission.
The final award presented at the Giving and Volunteering Celebration was the 2013 Engaged Campus of the Year Award from the Michigan Campus Compact. The Engaged Campus of the Year Award was presented to both Northern Michigan University and Delta Community College for their exemplary commitment to community engagement.
Also as part of the day's celebration, the event partners released the inaugural Michigan Civic Health Index. This report, authored in partnership with the National Conference on Citizenship, is a measure of how actively Michigan citizens are engaged in their communities through important civic activities such as voting, volunteering, and charitable contributions. The Index can be found at www.tinyurl.com/12MI-CHI.
"The results of the report indicate that Michigan is doing exceedingly well in some areas of our civic health and face a number of unique challenges in other areas," commented Council of Michigan Foundations President and CEO Rob Collier. "We look forward to using this report to create informed and educated statewide strategies that will help us move the needle on Michigan's civic health."
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