Head on over to the 2012 Jefferson Awards page and nominate your hero today!

You can also learn more about the Jefferson Awards by checking out this edition of Comcast Newsmakers Western Washington with our very own Program and Operations Manager, Jessica Jones!

                                                                                              "This honor is a once in a lifetime gift - a wonderful opportunity to share my passion with others in the hope that they will be inspired to make a difference in their community, too. Thank you for recognizing the positive impact of volunteers across the State of Washington. I am in awe of the honorees who share the honor with me and I am inspired by them to continue to work had and find creative ways to address the challendges of serving those less fortunate in my community."

- Peggy LaPorte, FUSION Founder, Washington State Jefferson Award Winner 2011.

(Pictured: Washington State Jefferson Award Winners 2011)

Nominate your community hero today!

Five volunteers from Washington State will receive the Washington State Jefferson Award for their outstanding volunteerism. The winners will be judged by a panel of community leaders and their stories will be told on Evening Magazine the week of March 12th. New this year, winners will receive a gift of volunteer management assessment and consultation from the United Way of King County. One winner will be selected as the National Nominee and will be sponsored to represent our state in Washington D.C. You can help select the National Nominee by watching Evening Magazine during the week of March 12, then voting at KING5.com. Anyone in Washington State can vote. All five winners will be recognized at a breakfast in April in Seattle. The National Nominee will be announced at that time and also featured that day on New Day Northwest. The public is invited to attend the breakfast to honor our Jefferson Award winners and take part in the call to action for volunteerism. Click here to nominate your hero.

Watch KING5 tonight at 7pm!

Find out about the amazing work of last year's Washington State Jefferson Award Winners and the Washington State Nominee, Meghan Johnson, who went on to win the National Jefferson Award. Then nominate your hero and you might see them on KING5 Evening Magazine in April 2012.

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award is presented annually to five “Unsung Heroes” across America for extraordinary and selfless volunteer work in their communities

Seattle - Tuesday, June 21, CityClub announced that Megan Johnson, Washington State’s 2011 Jefferson Award winner, is among 18 Americans whose extraordinary, selfless contributions to the community good have earned them the nation’s highest honor for public service at the national 2011 Jefferson Awards.  The awards are being presented at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening, June 21.  Megan will be presented with one of the five the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Awards. 

Megan has accomplished more in her 19 years than most do in a lifetime.  Though she endured 27 surgeries to correct a facial disorder, she has worked tirelessly to help those less fortunate in her community.  She is the founder of Kids Helping Kids, an organization that collects and distributes DVDs to patients in children’s hospitals; From the Heart, an organization that makes and distributes blankets for babies affected by drugs or poverty; and Megan’s Mission, an organization that gives out blankets and other necessities to the homeless to remind them that they are not forgotten.  She has donated much of her own money to various causes, from a local homeless shelter to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Watch Evening Magazine Tonight, Wednesday, June 22^nd at 7:00pm on King 5 TV to see a profile of Megan and the proceedings in D.C.

CityClub presents the Washington State Jefferson Awards with King 5 TV.  In 2011, the awards were sponsored by Starbucks, Microsoft, King 5 TV, Safeco and Wells Fargo. Watch the proceedings in Washington D.C. tonight on King5 Evening Magazine.

And nominate your unsung heroes for the 2011 Jefferson Awards! CityClub will begin receiving applications in December 2011.

Photo: Megan Johnson in Washington D.C. accepting her award on Tuesday, June 21, 2011

There's a lot of excitement happening in our office these days! Last week, our panel of judges met to choose 5 Washington winners from our plethora of amazing nominees - a tough job I don't envy. :)

After the judges made their decisions, Diane (our executive director) had the distinct pleasure of calling the winners to let them know they'd been chosen. Now that they know they're winners, we can tell you who they are!

...but first, some information about what comes next! We can only send one person to the National Jefferson Awards celebration - and we have you pick them. KING 5 will be filming interviews with all the winners, and will air them on Evening Magazine the week of March 28th, and you'll be able to vote online for your choice. We'll announce soon when voting will open. 

And so, without further delay, the Washington Winners of the 2011 Jefferson Awards are...

Ahndrea Blue – Seattle, WA
Through her work to establish a food bank in east Tacoma, Ahndrea and "The Making A Difference Foundation" have brought relief to those in need in this community and inspired many others to volunteer. The food bank, called Eloise’s Cooking Pot, provides a balanced and nutritious diet to families in need, and also provides food for those with dietary or cultural food requirements. Her community service philosophy: "I recognize that everyone, at a point in their life, needs help. I am hoping that by helping people with food and other items, when they are on their feet and are able, that they will pay it forward and help someone else."

Phyllis Jean Camfield – Port Townsend, WA
Jean Camfield not only helped to found and operate the East Jefferson County Habitat for Humanity Affiliate for many years, she completely revolutionized the organization’s funding model by opening the "Habitat Store," a furniture store whose profits help fund the purchase of land for further Habitat for Humanity development.  The store is mostly volunteer run.  And she still comes in on Tuesdays to work with volunteers as they sort, price, repair and clean donated merchandise.

Megan Johnson – Federal Way, WA
Megan Johnson has accomplished more in her 19 years than most do in a lifetime.  Though she endured 27 surgeries to correct a facial disorder, she has worked tirelessly to help those less fortunate in her community.  She is the founder of Kids Helping Kids, an organization that collects and distributes DVDs to the patients in children’s hospitals; From the Heart, an organization that makes and distributes blankets for babies affected by drugs or poverty; and Megan’s Mission, an organization that gives out blankets and other necessities to the homeless to remind them that they are not forgotten.  She has donated much of her own money to various causes, from the local homeless shelter to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Peggy LaPorte – Federal Way, WA
In 1993, Peggy LaPorte recognized a need to help the homeless in South King County and founded FUSION.  Seventeen years later, FUSION operates under Peggy’s guidance with an all-volunteer staff of over 200 to provide transitional housing to those in need.  The organization owns 16 units.  Peggy’s tireless pursuit of government grants, corporate sponsorships, private donations and volunteers testifies to her tenacity.  Her organization has become a nationally-recognized non-profit, and has changed the lives of over 165 families by providing them with a secure environment and clear goals to help them get back on their feet.

Jim Theofelis – Seattle, WA
Jim Theofelis founded the Mockingbird Society in 2001, an organization that empowers youth in foster care to advocate for themselves.  The goal of the Mockingbird Society is simple, yet innovative: Ask the youth who are in the foster care and kinship care system what can be done to improve it, and bring their voices to bear on social justice and change.  The Mockingbird Society has gone from a small non-profit operating out of an office underneath the University Bridge, to a statewide organization of youth in every region, who advocate for themselves in their community and at the state level.  His work has directly affected the lives of many youths in need, and has had a direct impact on legislation at both the state and federal level.

Congratulations to all our winners, and all our amazing nominees! Click here for the full list of the 2011 Nominees.

See a name you know? Join us as we honor the Washington winners at the Jefferson Awards breakfast at the Space Needle on Wednesday, April 13.

Have you nominated your hero already?

Help us spread the word about the Jefferson Awards! Tell your friends, family and colleagues that you nominated, and encourage them to do the same!

Looking for an easy, great way to spread the word? From now until the nomination deadline (February 10!) change your profile picture - on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever your social media of choice - to the Jefferson Awards medallion!

All Washington Winners receive one of these wonderful medallions, engraved with their name and the year they received the award. Help us honor our past winners, and our future winners!

P.S. We're using the hash tag #JeffersonAwards on Twitter - you can too!

It feels like only yesterday we celebrated the winners of our 2010 Jefferson Awards... but the time is here to nominate for 2011!

Thanks to our partners at KING 5, nominations are live for next year's awards. To get you in the spirit, KING 5's Evening Magazine will re-air all the Jefferson winner stories on a special addition of Evening Magazine on Friday, December 17th. 

So what makes a Jefferson Award winner? We are looking for people who make a difference - individuals who have made their community, the nation and the world a better place. All the information you could ever want about the Washington State Jefferson Awards (history! nomination process! criteria! timeline!) is here.

It's been just one day since we went live, and we've already received nominations. We can't wait to read yours!

Want to stay up to date on this year's process? Click here to subscribe for alerts and information.

Want to learn more about past ceremonies/winners? Click here for all CityBlog posts about the Jefferson Awards.

Nominate your hero today!

Stu Jacobson, Washington's National Nominee for the 2010 Jefferson Awards, shared with us a video of his speech from the national ceremony in Washington, D.C. Click here to view on YouTube! (We have added the video as a favorite, but credit and ownership goes to Parents for Safe Childcare. See their YouTube channel here.)