JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas –
Do you know any amazing Joint Base San Antonio volunteers? Nominate them to be recognized for their outstanding and innovative volunteer efforts!
The JBSA Military & Family Readiness Centers have extended accepting nominations until March 10 for the Annual JBSA Volunteer Awards Ceremony to recognize the contributions of outstanding volunteers within the JBSA community.
Military units, volunteer organizations and JBSA members can submit nominations of individuals or groups for the JBSA Volunteer of the Year Awards, the JBSA Volunteer Excellence Award and the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Submit nomination packets now through March 10 for this year's ceremony. Specific award criteria, instructional guides, and nomination forms are available online. Nomination writing support is available by request in person or virtually at all M&FRC locations.
Information on the awards and nomination forms can be found at https://www.jbsa.mil/Resources/Military-Family-Readiness/Volunteer-Resources/.
Completed nomination forms should be emailed to 802FSS.FSYR.VolunteerServices@us.af.mil. The deadline to submit an award nomination is March 10.
The awards are:
Volunteer of the Year Award (VOYA)
This award does not require a specific number of hours to be considered and has eight different categories: Outstanding Service Member, Outstanding Civilian, Outstanding Retiree, Outstanding Youth (ages 13-17), Outstanding Family Member, JBSA Family of the Year, Small Groups, and Large Groups.
Volunteer Excellence Award (VEA)
This lifetime achievement award recognizes federal civilians, military and federal retirees, and military family members who have performed outstanding volunteer services that are sustained, direct, and consequential in nature. Volunteers may only receive this award once.
Presidential Volunteer Service Award
This award honors individuals whose service positively impacts communities in every corner of the nation and inspires those around them to take action. This award requires a specific number of volunteer hours per age bracket and includes four different categories: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Lifetime Achievement.
Award nominees and winners will be honored at the JBSA Volunteer Awards Ceremony at 1 p.m. April 19 at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Military & Family Readiness Center, 3060 Stanley Road, building 2797.
“One of the greatest gifts we can give is our time,” said George Romero, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston M&FRC installation volunteer corps coordinator, “Today, volunteers have no problem giving their time.” Romero manages the Volunteer Information Management System (VMIS) for JBSA, a system allowing volunteers to track their own hours, keep schedules, and provide validation to leadership.
Romero said JBSA has approximately 215 registered organizations in VMIS and around 3,911 volunteers working in various roles in military units and organizations supporting active-duty members, military family members, retirees, and Department of Defense civilians.
“Martin Luther King Jr. said ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is – what are you doing for others?’ Volunteering is essential to our mission at JBSA, and this is especially true now,” Romero explained. “The Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery relies on volunteers of Honor Guard, Memorial Day and the Holiday Wreath laying each year; the Brooke Army Medical Center volunteers play an important role in the hospitals; the Fort Sam Houston Thrift Shop relies on volunteers to run it. All of these organizations work hard to provide a service to the community and it takes selfless services of volunteers to make it work.”
For information on the JBSA Volunteer Awards, contact the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston M&FRC at 210-221-2705; JBSA-Lackland M&FRC at 210-671-3722; or JBSA-Randolph M&FRC at 210-652-5321.