Vote for ‘Blessings’ as Everyday Heroes

All it takes is a click to make Citrus County’s Blessings in a Backpack program, and volunteers Mary Catherine Spires and Elisabeth Moore, Bay News 9’s Viewer’s Choice Everyday Hero of the Year.

The winner is selected by viewers votes from the Bay News 9 website at www.baynews9.com/article/news/2012/january/370762/Vote-for-9s-Viewers-Choice-Hero-of-the-Year.

Also available on the site are video newscasts of the four finalists.

The award will be given March 12 at the Salute to Everyday Heroes luncheon.

In an email, Mary Catherine Spires said she and Elisabeth Moore were “reluctant stand-in faces” for the program, but thrilled to be chosen as nominees. They had only recently learned that they were finalists.

“I can’t stand it, it’s so awesome,” said Debbie Lattin, Blessings’ director. “We are humbled by the nomination for our program to be recognized and our board members, Mary Catherine Spires and Elisabeth Moore, to be nominated for Everyday Heroes of the year award. From our board level right down to our army of volunteers, we would all tell you that the real heroes are the students we serve.”

In the email Spires sent out to their program’s supporters, she wrote: “The only reason we are asking (people) to vote is because of the awareness and clout the award would lend to future grant applications and potential donors. As you know, by the end of this school year, the Blessings program will be feeding over 1,000 children in 10 elementary schools in Citrus County. The money required to make that happen is substantial, and has to be raised every year. It takes close to $100,000 every year to sustain our current program.”

Gina McQueen at Bay News 9 said viewers nominate people or organizations for this award.

“We choose ‘heroes’ who go above and beyond their everyday lives to make a contribution to their community,” she said.

Also nominated for Everyday Hero of the Year: Justin Jackson. a Tampa teen who pulled a woman from a burning car after a car accident; St. Petersburg chef Tyson Grant, who built a vegetable garden at All Children’s Hospital to give patients and families a special place to visit; and Delwyn Collins, a hospital employee who took his struggles from the past to make the Christmas of the future brighter for foster children.

To vote, go online at www.baynews9.com/article/news/2012/january/370762/Vote-for-9s-Viewers-Choice-Hero-of-the-Year.

To learn more about Blessings in a Backpack, go online at www.citruscountyblessings.com.

Chronicle reporter Nancy Kennedy can be reached at nkennedy@chronicleonline.com or 352-564-2927.