The Christopher Reeve Award

The Heart of America Foundation's Christopher Reeve Award is presented each year to an extraordinary youth who has demonstrated tremendous compassion and caring in serving his or her community. Nominees should be high school seniors or younger and the awardee must be a high school senior or younger at the time of the award in December. Nominations will be considered from September 1 through October 31 each year. One award recipient will be selected by the end of December and will receive a $1000 scholarship for post secondary education.

There is no application to complete when making a nomination. We do ask that you please include the basic information outlined below in your nomination email or letter. In addition, we ask that you provide as much detail as possible about the nominee's service efforts, what sets the nominee apart form his/her peers, and why the nominee should be considered for the Christopher Reeve Award. The nominator may not be a relative of the nominee.

• Nominator's name, relationship to nominee, and complete contact information, including address, phone and email address
• Nominee's complete contact information, including address, phone, email, age
• Nominee's school name, address and current grade level
• Length of time doing volunteer work
• Approximate hours of volunteer service
• Details of volunteer work for each project
• What sets the nominee apart from other volunteers
• Three references with day time contact information, including phone and email
• Any supporting documentation (e.g. awards, articles, etc).

Nominations should be emailed to Colleen Noland, Vice President, Programs at colleen@heartofamerica.org or mailed to the Heart of America Foundation at 401 F Street NW, Suite 325, Washington, DC 20001 to the attention of "Christopher Reeve Award." The nominator and nominee will be notified by the end of December only if the nominee is selected as the recipient.

Heroes of the Heart™ Gee Whiz Kids™ Award

The Gee Whiz Kids™ Award is a category of the Heroes of the Heart™ recognition program designed to honor exemplary individuals who represent the heart of America.

The Gee Whiz Kids™ Award is designed to honor children who are age 12 and under. To nominate a child for the Gee Whiz Kids™ Award simply tell us how your nominee has made a difference in the lives of others through his/her acts of caring and compassion. Please include the following:

• nominee's full name
• parent/guardian's name and complete address
• age & grade level
• home phone number (nominee's will only be contacted for additional information to support their nomination)
• a day time phone number for at least one adult (besides the nominee's parent/guardian) who can serve as a reference for the nominee’s charitable work.

You may include any printed materials (press clippings) or awards pertaining to your nominee.

Nominations should be emailed to Colleen Noland, Vice President, Programs at colleen@heartofamerica.org or mailed to the Heart of America Foundation at 401 F Street NW, Suite 325, Washington, DC 20001 to the attention of "Gee Whiz Kids Award.".

Marilyn Perlyn, author of the children's book The Biggest and Brightest Light, provides a scholarship for each Gee Whiz Kid recipient.