By Nancy Price-Hutley, National Recognition Committee Chair (nancy.price-hutley@skipatrol.ca)
Recognizing people’s contributions within a volunteer organization goes a long way to keeping members engaged and committed. This is the first of a series of articles describing the various national recognition awards beginning with the National Appreciation Award and the Alison Smith Memorial Leadership Award.
National Appreciation Award
The objective of the National Appreciation Award is to recognize patrollers who have contributed far more time and effort than would normally be expected in the performance of their assigned functions over a minimum of five years. Any regular member of the CSP in good standing is eligible for this award.
Things to keep in mind when nominating someone for this award would be the contributions they have made at any level of the organization, demonstrated leadership and innovation, and their extraordinary efforts over a period of time. The individual should also have been recognized at their zone and division level. If a zone or division does not currently have an awards program then do not hesitate to nominate the patroller but please provide an explanation as to why they have not been recognized at those levels.
Alison Smith Memorial Leadership Award
Alison Smith was a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol and felt strongly about young people becoming involved with the organization. As a member of the board of directors, Alison was focused on engaging younger members within the CSP and providing them with opportunities to grow as leaders.
The objective of this award is to build awareness and celebrate members who show leadership by taking on new challenges and displaying initiative to grow as leaders within the Canadian Ski Patrol. To be eligible for this award, a member must be 35 years of age or younger and in good standing with the CSP.
Things to keep in mind when nominating a member for this award include displayed leadership skills, a vision of how young patrollers can be of value to the CSP and ideas of how to move the CSP forward. The member should also have shown the ability to incorporate and/or balance their work-life responsibilities with their CSP responsibilities. A patroller does not need to have prior recognition at their zone or division level in order to be eligible for this award.
Let’s remember to recognize the great work our patrollers do. The window for submitting nominations will soon be upon us for this season.
This post is also available in: French