Community Roundtable Seeks Nominees for Annual Alice B. Tompkins Award

The Community Roundtable is seeking nominees for its annual Alice B. Tompkins Community Service Award and the Nonprofit Organization of the Year award.

The Roundtable, which organizes the Brandon Fourth of July parade, is an organization composed of representatives of various Brandon area civic organizations. Each year at its annual Community Public Affairs Dinner, it awards the Alice B. Tompkins Award to a resident who has gone above and beyond in his or her community involvement.

Also at the dinner, the Roundtable honors a nonprofit group in the community for its service.

The deadline for nominations is Jan. 13.

“The goes to an individual who has exhibited strong and sustained efforts in working to better the community in Brandon,” said Roundtable President Sam Creasman, in a , last year. “We look for sustained effort and not someone who goes at it like a house on fire for one year and then that’s it. We want someone who is there year after year because the needs are always there in the community.”

Last year's Alice B. Tompkins Award designee was longtime community activist Sandy Pullinger.

“She is an amazing public servant and so deserving of the award,” said Susan Saunders, the 2010 Alice B. Tompkins recipient, in a . “She worked on Relays For Life for the American Cancer Society (ACS) and was president and vice president of the local chapter for the ACS. She started the Brandon chapter of the American Heart Association and she was a big deal with the Brandon Service League. She worked for the YMCA and the Brandon Care Pregnancy Center (now Lifecare of Brandon) among so many other things. Her resume is pages long.”

Last year's top nonprofit award, along with a $500 check, went to the , which shares space in the Sandy Rodriguez Center with the .

The recognition in 2010, the first year it was given, was awarded to the Emegency Care Help Organization (ECHO), whose mission is to help people in emergency situations with food, clothing and other resources.

The Alice B. Tompkins nomination and the nomination for top nonprofit can be submitted by any member of the community and will be accepted through 5 p.m. Jan. 13 at Center Place, where the Roundtable meets the second Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m.

The group is open to anyone in the community concerned with civic, charitable and commerce endeavors. Its roots track back more than 50 years ago, when the Roundtable Charities of Greater Brandon Inc. was formed to serve as an umbrella organization for area nonprofits. The group at the time, commonly known as the Presidents Roundtable, was open to the presidents of all area charities, including service groups.

For information, email the Roundtable at Roundtable2008@aol.com.