If you know someone in Boone County who has quietly gone above and beyond this year — a neighbor who talked a stranger through a crisis, a volunteer who showed up when a fire crew needed an extra set of hands, an organization that kept people safer through a hard stretch — there’s a place to say so, and the deadline is coming up fast.
Nominations are open for the Tom S. Hurley Public Safety Service Award, named for the former director of the Boone County Office of Emergency Management, who died June 30, 2019. The award honors an individual, agency, or organization that embodies Hurley’s spirit and dedication to public service, according to KOMU 8.
To be eligible, a nominee needs to be a resident of, or an entity within, Boone County who went beyond their regular duties — the award gives preference to volunteers and volunteer-based organizations — and who significantly contributed to preparedness, emergency response, or community resilience within the past 12 months. KOMU 8 reports the committee is looking for someone who responded to or prevented a crisis in the local community this past year and who shows helpfulness, initiative, altruism, and humility.
Nominations close Aug. 9. The application lives on the award’s own site at tomhurley-org.jccheavens.com; questions can go to contact@tomhurley.org.
A nine-member selection committee — drawn from law enforcement, emergency services, the hospital, local government, and Hurley’s own family and colleagues — will choose the winner, per KOMU 8. Whoever it is will be honored with a plaque and a monetary prize at the Boone County Ready Festival, set for Sept. 17 from 3 to 7 p.m. at Cosmo Park.
It’s a small window for a nomination that could mean a lot to somebody who’s used to being the one showing up for everyone else.
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