Canton, Ohio - The Stark and Muskingum Lakes Chapter of the American Red Cross is asking the community to help them recognize local heroes who have gone above and beyond to help during emergency situations in 2018. 

Executive Director Kim Kroh says the chapter is seeking nominations for its 2019 Hero Awards. She says they’re looking for nominees who have demonstrated bravery, leadership or kindness during a time of emergency.

“We’re not looking for just people who have jumped into a lake to save someone’s life or jumped out of a burning building. We’re also looking for folks who have given a lot to their community, who are very philanthropic, who are leaders. Somebody like that also is a hero,” she says.

Kroh says nominees must live in or work within the chapter’s four-county service region although the act of service is not limited to these areas. 

“The individual has to either work in or live in one of our four counties, which is Tuscarawas, Stark, Harrison, and Carroll counties. They can live in or work in one of these counties but the actual act itself does not have to have occurred in one of these counties,” she says.

Kroh says nominations will be accepted through January 31st and can be made online at www.redcross.org/neo or by calling the chapter’s headquarters at 330-453-0146. 

“You can nominate them right online, and it comes directly to us. We’ll be notified as soon as you hit the submit button that we have received another nomination,” she says. “If you’re not comfortable doing it that way, you can always just give us a call and we can send out a nomination form via email or snail mail, whatever works for you, and you can also nominate them that way.”

Kroh says they’ll select between five to eight nominees to honor during their Hometown Heroes Bash on May 2nd at the Cultural Center for the Arts in downtown Canton. 

“We’re going to pre-videotape everybody’s story, and so what we’ll do the night of the event is we’ll play the videos of each person’s story and then as we play a person’s story we’ll have them come up and then they will receive their award and their recognition for their heroic act,” she says.

Kroh says they’re also looking for businesses and individuals to sponsor the event. She says people can call the chapter for more information. 

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV