Nominations are being sought for awards to honor northwest Missouri residents who serve others.

Elaine Ingle is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Catholic Charities in St. Joseph. According to Ingle, the Reflections of Hope luncheon will be held later this month as a fundraiser, but also to honor those nominated for the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Service Award.

“We try to encourage people to look around them and see the people in their communities who serve others, but do so in a selfless and a humble way as in the way of Mother Teresa,” Ingle said. “We would like for people to nominate… somebody that doesn’t necessarily want the attention, but you feel that they serve others and would be worthy of this honor. We’ve had people (nominated) that… clean sidewalks, pull weeds and things, they’re not paid to do that, but they just come in and do that out of the goodness of their heart. There’s people who organize food drives or clothing drives in their communities, there’s just so many different ways that we can serve one another and it’s done without any prompting, they just, on their own, decide that they want to do something to help out.”

Ingle said anyone in the 15-county area that they serve can be nominated and they don’t have to be Catholic Charities volunteers.

Nominations along with reservations for the luncheon are due Monday, April 9th.

The luncheon will be held April 30th. For more information, or to nominate someone, call (816) 390-4040.