The  inaugural “Spirit of Carlsbad” awards is being co-hosted by the City of Carlsbad, the Carlsbad Current-Argus, the Ricky Garcia Foundation and the United Way of Eddy County.

We are now accepting nominations for five different awards: Humanitarian of the Year, Outstanding Citizen of the Year, Student Humanitarian of the Year, Student Outstanding Citizen of the Year and Nonprofit Agency of the Year. We’re planning to give out these awards, and a few others, in May. 

The humanitarian awards are for a person or couple who donated time and resources to assist their fellow citizens throughout 2020. Outstanding citizen awards are for a person or couple who made a major impact on Carlsbad through civic involvement. Nominees must be a resident of Carlsbad or South Eddy County. For the two student awards this year, we’re looking for a graduating high school senior (Class of 2021). Our graduating seniors have been through a lot and we want to recognize them. The nominated nonprofit agency must also have a strong presence in Carlsbad or South Eddy County. 

Nominations are due by March 15. You can send them to mayor.office@cityofcarlsbadnm.com (Subject: Spirit of Carlsbad), or drop them off at City Hall, the United Way office or the Current-Argus. Please include contact information of the nominator and nominated and a short narrative outlining the person or organization’s contributions. Let us know if you have any questions. 

Thank you to our committee members: Jessica Onsurez, Janell Whitlock, Linda Dodd and Ricky Garcia for helping put this together so quickly. Some of the specific details of the planned ceremony will, of course, depend on COVID-19 restrictions at the time, but we are very excited about this event. It is our hope that this will become an annual event and draw a high level of participation. 

From the office of Mayor Dale Janway