Stephanie Gubelin’s efforts to register voters in local counties ahead of the 2020 presidential election is what earned her Volunteer of the Year in 2021. (Provided photo — Amy Scattergood)

Hundreds of functions in the North Country depend on volunteers. People are fed and clothed, the ill and injured are cared for, fires are extinguished, artists’ work is promoted, libraries are maintained, events are planned and the natural environment is curated by volunteers.

In March, as usual, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and the Lake Placid News will honor a local resident as the Tri-Lakes Volunteer of the Year, and we need your help. We need our readers to nominate people who deserve the honor.

Each of the Tri-Lakes villages has its own volunteer awards, but this is the only one for the entire region.

The Volunteer of the Year could either help in many areas or fulfill a strong commitment to one program for a long time. It could be someone whose volunteerism is measured in decades or someone who made huge contributions in the past year. He or she cannot receive any material compensation for this work.

Monday, Jan. 30 is the deadline for us to receive nominations. Your nomination letter should contain a description of the volunteer work your nominee does and why you think the person deserves the award. Our staff will then choose a winner from among your suggestions.

Please submit your nomination to Enterprise Managing Editor Elizabeth Izzo at eizzo@adirondackdailyenterprise.com. You can also drop it off at 54 Broadway, Saranac Lake; mail it to Volunteer of the Year, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, P.O. Box 318, Saranac Lake, NY 12983. Please put “Volunteer of the Year” right at the top.

A story about the winning volunteer, along with a thorough directory of local resources, will appear in the Community Resource Guide, which will be published March 24 and distributed as a separate publication at our office in Saranac Lake.

Here are the Volunteers of the Year for the past 30 years:

2022 Rich and Debby Harrison

2021 Stephanie Gubelin

2020 Aleacia Landon

2019 Julie Harjung

2018 Vance and Maggie Mortensen

2017 Vivian Smith

2016 Sue Patterson

2015 Jim LaValley

2014 Gloria Drucker

2013 (No award given)

2012 Linda Young

2011 Dmitry Feld

2010 Virginia Bristol

2009 Katie Fischer

2008 Cherie Fisher

2007 Roland Patnode

2006 Natalie Leduc

2005 Joy Harvey

2004 Paulann Andrews

2003 Bob McKillip

2002 Marjorie McLaughlin

2001 Lora Brown

2000 Conni Cross

1999 John Howard

1998 Tom Scheefer

1997 Rip Allen

1996 Rick Knapton

1995 Jim Rollier

1994 Frank Morrison

1993 Dan and Issy Cassell

1992 Ruth Miller

1991 Gary Ryther

We hope reading these names inspires you to try to follow in their footsteps.