Points of Light and The Walt Disney Company Call for Daily Point of Light Award Nominations for Families

Points of Light and The Walt Disney Company will celebrate the impact of family volunteering across the nation by honoring exemplary family volunteers with a Daily Point of Light Award. The award recognizes their commitment to volunteering as a family. The call for nominations opens today and nominations will be reviewed on an ongoing basis through October 7. Awards will be presented during the months and days leading up to Family Volunteer Day on November 19. Disney, a proud supporter of the Daily Point of Light Award and Family Volunteer Day, has worked with Points of Light for more than 20 years to help mobilize the nation into action through volunteerism and service.

The Daily Point of Light award celebrates the power of people to spark change and improve the world. Honored families will be featured on pointsoflight.org, receive media support and a certificate signed by President George H. W. Bush, who started the award 25 years ago. These honorees will join previous Daily Point of Light Award honorees, like a family of eight that was honored for their collective efforts to revitalize a community center and a husband and wife who received their Daily Point of Light Award at the White House in honor of their work fighting hunger.

“We believe the more Daily Point of Light Award stories we are able to share about the different ways people can be a Point of Light, the closer we get to everyone seeing themselves in these stories so they, too, can become inspired and equipped to take action that changes the world,” said Delores Morton, President of Programs, Points of Light. “Together, we will realize the Points of Light vision – one day, every person will discover their power to make a difference, creating healthy communities in vibrant, participatory societies.”

Family Volunteer Day is powered by generationOn, the youth service division of Points of Light. The Day encourages families to volunteer together to help strengthen their neighborhoods, communities and the world. Each year, thousands of families use the day to teach children valuable real-life lessons about compassion and caring. The families that we will select to receive the Daily Point of Light Award will offer inspiration and concrete ideas for other families who want to make a difference in their communities.

“Service is a great way to help bring families together while taking action to make the world a better place,” said Kathy Saulitis, SVP, generationOn. “Research shows that volunteering benefits kids, families and communities and is a powerful way to teach youth valuable real-life lessons about empathy and caring. We are excited to recognize the power of families who volunteer together with these special Daily Point of Light Awards.”

Award nominations for family volunteers can be submitted online through Friday, October 7, 2016, at pointsoflight.org/programs/recognition/dpol/nomination. To be eligible, family members must be U.S. citizens or residents and engage in nonpaid volunteer service for at least six consecutive months, except in the case of disaster or crisis services. Nominees will be evaluated based upon their impact on a community need and their potential to serve as a model for other families interested in volunteering together. For complete details about award criteria and to learn about previous honorees, visit pointsoflight.org/dailypointoflight.

About Points of Light:

Points of Light – the largest organization in the world dedicated to volunteer service – mobilizes millions of people to take action that is changing the world. Through affiliates in 250 cities and partnerships with thousands of nonprofits and corporations, Points of Light engages more than 4 million volunteers in 30 million hours of service each year. We bring the power of people to bear where it matters most.  For more information, go to pointsoflight.org.

About generationOn:

generationOn, the youth division of Points of Light, is dedicated to providing programs and resources that support the development of caring, compassionate and capable kids and teens, through service, empowering them to become change makers in their communities and the world. For more information, visit generationon.org.