They’re the families who spend their Sunday mornings after church delivering bags of groceries from the food back to the less fortunate.

They’re the people who devote an afternoon helping ensure that the next big event at Lawless Park goes off without a hitch.

They’re the men and women who offer to spend their free time helping to mentor struggling students at Dowagiac Union High School or Niles High School.

These people, no matter what cause they devote themselves, no matter what drives them to give of themselves, all share one thing in common.

They ask for nothing in return for time and energy.

Every day, in each of the communities we cover, hundreds of everyday citizens volunteer a part of their busy lives to bettering the lives of others, without the promise of compensation. It’s because of their selfless efforts that things once thought impossible become a reality, that many local organizations and charities are able to provide services to the rest of community without going broke in the process.

It’s no overstatement to say that, without volunteers, our communities would not be where they are today.

Leader Publications has long been supporters of the efforts of these selfless individuals.

On the Giving Page published Wednesdays in the Niles Daily Star and Dowagiac Daily News and every Thursday in the Cassopolis Vigilant and Edwardsburg Argus, we highlight the efforts of a particular giver in our area with our Volunteer of the Week feature. Each week, one of our reporters has a brief conversation with a volunteer, nominated by someone else in the community, asking them about his or her efforts and what makes them choose to devote themselves to improving the lives of others.

Through this feature, we have highlighted individuals who would otherwise go unrecognized by a majority of our readers. In the process, we have also shared the work done by different charities and nonprofits, many of which also fly under the radar for many living in Berrien and Cass counties.

In order to keep this feature going every week, though, we’re going to need your help, to find these heroes and share their good deeds with the rest of the community.

If you know someone who is worthy of being spotlighted for their local efforts, we encourage you reach out to one of our community editors and share who you wish to be featured. Whether they are the president of a local service organization or just a mother volunteering with her son’s Boy Scout troop, we would love the opportunity to highlight even more of the altruism occurring everyday in our communities.

If you have someone in mind you would like to nominate, contact Niles Community Editor Craig Haupert at (269) 687-7720, Dowagiac Community Editor Ted Yoakum at (269) 588-1040, or Cassopolis/Edwardsburg Community Editor Scott Novak at (269) 687-7702.

We’re always looking for volunteers to recognize, so your nominations would go a long way toward showcasing how great our communities are.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.