A CO Donegal man who dedicates all his spare time to help others has tonight been named as Co Donegal Community Champion.
Joe Boland will represent the county in the national competition organised by Calor.
Following several weeks of intense nominating, the company have received entries from every corner of Donegal.
And Lifford man Joe has been shortlisted as the Donegal nominee for the Community Champion initiative.
Joe has been involved in Scouting for almost 20 years.
Said the judges: “Everything he does is for the benefit of young scouts. In the past he has taken up roles on County, Provincial and National Boards but what he loves most is organising activities for scouts, including camps and challenge days.
“Joe is not only a regular scout leader but also an avid Scout leader trainer and has trained hundreds and possibly thousands of leaders over many years, including at least 10 volunteer training courses this year alone.”
Now donegaldaily.com is getting behind the Derry Journal photographer – and we need YOUR help to land him the national prize.
The winner of the Calor Community Champion 2012 will receive €1,500 and a bursary of €7,500 to give to their nominated charity or local organisation. Calor is even throwing in €500 for the person or organisation that nominated them.
Voting is now open to each and every member of the public through the Calor Facebook page.
To support your local hero, Joe Boland and play your part in helping him to be recognised as the first Calor Community Champion could not be easier, visit our Gallery of Nominees to see who is representing your county, read about the organisation they have selected to receive the prize and their ‘pitch’ for your vote atwww.facebook.com/calorireland. The public will have until August 20th to vote for their favourite and the top four local champions and two wildcards will make it through to the final phase.
Speaking at the shortlist announcement, Hector Ó hEochagáin, TV personality and head of the Judging Panel said: “We asked for nominations from every corner and boreen on the island and you have not disappointed! All of us on the judging panel have been heartened by the stories of unseen work going on across our local communities.
“This initiative has been a platform to shed light on these truly deserving people, like Joe Boland here in Donegal. We now have a gallery of what can only be described as real life community heroes. Now it is time to see what each county is truly made of and who the best supporters are, so visit the Gallery of Nominees and get voting today!”
Jennifer Fagan, Marketing Executive, Calor Gas said, “At Calor we have been overwhelmed by the quality of work going on across the country and the numbers of nominations which have been flooding in to us. These people help to raise aspirations and create a feel-good factor within local communities. Choosing the local champions has been a hard task, without them it is clear our communities would be much poorer places. Calor wants every county to get behind their local champion and provide them with the reward and recognition they deserve.”
The winner will be chosen by our Judging Panel led by TV and radio personality, Hector Ó hEochagáin, and including legendary GAA and sports broadcaster, Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh and Jennifer Fagan from Calor. The Calor Community Champion 2012 will be announced on September 4th.