PURPOSE
The city of Bloomington has a tradition of volunteer and civic service. Every day, residents are renewing their commitment to helping others and making greater networks that unite us as a community. The purpose of the Mayor’s Award for Civic Engagement is to acknowledge Bloomington residents who, through their commitment to service, have significantly improved civic life in Bloomington, Indiana. Civic engagement is defined as the following: individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern. Civic engagement can take many forms, from individual volunteerism to organizational involvement to electoral participation. It can include efforts to directly address an issue, work with others in a community to solve a problem, or interact with the institutions of a representative democracy.
NOMINATION CRITERIA and ELIGIBILITY
Awards will be granted to individuals and/or groups with exemplary civic service and community involvement who have made a positive difference in Bloomington. The number of awards available is strictly limited and therefore, however valuable their service, not everyone can receive recognition. It is important to realize that an award will not automatically be granted following a submission. An award from each category will be granted at the discretion of the Mayor.
Award Categories
* INDIVIDUAL:
¨ Young Adult (age 25 and under)
¨ Adult (age 26 and over)
* GROUP:
¨ Student:
Primary: Elementary, Middle, and High School
Secondary: University/College
¨ Community Based
** Individual Nominees must be residents of Bloomington; Group Nominees must perform work or services within the Bloomington city limits**
PROCESS RECOMMENDATIONS
Individuals and groups can be nominated by any member of the community or by City of Bloomington staff, commission, and committee members. An independent Civic Engagement Award selection task force will review all nominations and submit the top three nominations in each category to the Mayor for the final selection.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Please accurately complete the nomination form and follow the instructions in each section closely. It is important that you provide as much information as possible about your nominee, and explain their contribution and impact. You may use additional sheets of paper, but please make sure that you label the additional information with the name of the section to which it relates. Please feel free to send in examples of the Nominee’s work (e.g. videos, photographs, books), provided the supporting material does not exceed five pages. Please note that all application materials will remain property of the City of Bloomington and will not be returned.
CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
The information contained in this nomination is strictly confidential and will not be communicated to any person other than those involved in the administration of the award, with the exception of the provided background information which may be used in association with the announcement of the recipient and/or promotion of the award.
The deadline to submit your nomination and supporting documents is 5:00pm Friday, December 16, 2011.
Please direct all questions to:
City of Bloomington
Community & Family Resources Department
401 N. Morton St., Ste. 260
Bloomington, Indiana 47404
safeandcivil@bloomington.in.gov