Salute to Families

Heartland Family Service has been sponsoring the Salute to Families Awards for a long time. What is this honor all about?

Salute to Families started in 1982, to demonstrate how many strong families we have in the metro area. We all hear so much in the media about the problems with families -- this event is designed to focus on all the great things about families. Those families we honor are not "winners;" they actually represent all metro area families. When we read about an honored family that is much like ours, it boosts our confidence in our own parenting; so this is an event that honors families everywhere.

What types of families are you looking for? How do the families qualify?

We're looking for all types of families, because families come in every shape and form:

• Blended, extended, adoptive, foster or traditional structure
• All incomes, all cultures

To represent the great diversity of family life, we honor four families in the categories of:

• Leadership
• Community service
• Challenged and successful
• Commitment to family

What should a person do if they want to nominate a family?

It’s a very easy process because we have a wonderful committee of community volunteers. Simply write a short paragraph on why you think this family qualifies -- handwritten is fine.

We contact the family and ask them to complete a questionnaire.

Our volunteer committee decides what category the families fit into, and then selects them.

DEADLINE IS MAY 1

Then what happens?

We work with the families for a few months to prepare for the event. Family photos are arranged, usually one with the Governor. A large story is printed in the World Herald describing each family. Finally, a formal recognition dinner is held in November.