Thrive Allen County makes awards each year in November to organizations and individuals doing exceptional things in our community. We do this because good work deserves to be recognized, and because it’s important to celebrate success!

Four awards are given for excellence in our primary program areas: Health and Wellness; Recreation; Education; and Economic Development. The Donna Talkington Award is Thrive’s highest award and is described further below. And Allen County’s banking community comes together to recognize “Unsung Heroes” from Eastern Allen County, Humboldt, and Iola.

Criteria

In order to be eligible for a Thrive award, organizations or individuals must have done one or more of the following:

• Expanded access to a particular service in the areas of health and wellness, recreation, education or economic development;
• Reached individuals or groups that had previously been underserved or not served at all;
• Shown excellence in partnership or collaboration with other organizations.

Organizations, individuals or businesses that provide or support health, wellness, education, recreation or economic development services in Allen County are eligible to receive a Thrive award. Award winners will be selected by the Thrive board of directors.

Unsung Hero Award

The Unsung Hero Award was created to recognize the contributions of those who are quietly working to make our communities better places, but who typically are not acknowledged publicly for their work. These are people who volunteer their time and talents without regard for recognition or accolades, having the simple goal of making their communities better places for all of us to live and work. The Unsung Hero award is made possible by the generosity of Community National Bank and Trust; Emprise Bank; the Bank of Gas; Great Southern Bank; and Landmark National Bank.

Donna Talkington Award

“The Donna” is the highest award given by Thrive. It recognizes exemplary activities by individuals, businesses or organizations that meaningfully impact our community. The award can recognize activities in any or all of the four focus areas (health/wellness, recreation, education, economic development), OR other activities as determined by the Board of Directors.

How to Nominate for a Thrive Award

Anyone can make a nomination for a Thrive award. Self-nominations are accepted. Nominations can be made by phone (620.365.8128), email (info@thriveallencounty.org), in person, in writing, or via the nomination form below. Those making nominations should provide key details about the nominee including their name, contact information, the organization(s) they represent, and how the work done fits with the criteria listed above. We also request the person making the nomination provide contact information in case there are questions from the Thrive board or staff.

Nominations must be submitted by October 11th.

Nomination Form