Thank you for celebrating the 36th Annual Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards with us!

The Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards are Middle Tennessee's largest annual celebration of volunteerism. The event is held in partnership with the family of Mary Catherine Strobel, a community volunteer best remembered and honored for her tireless, joyful commitment to those in need. Recipients are recognized at a celebratory breakfast, surrounded by family, friends, and community supporters. To see award recipients from 2022, please click here.

The 2023 event will be held on May 12, sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest updates.

Visit our live stream to see who was chosen!
View the Strobel Recipient announcement news release here
Click here to read the finalist's stories of service

Award recipients will receive $1,000 to give to the local nonprofit of their choosing, and finalists will receive $250 to donate.
Click here to sign up for our email list for the latest updates

2022 Strobel Volunteer Awards Categories

Direct Service — Youth: Recognizes individuals who contributed significant volunteer time, energy, and/or resources in 2021 to help the community. Volunteers ages 5-20 are eligible for this award.

Direct Service — Adult: Recognizes individuals who contributed significant volunteer time, energy, and/or resources in 2021 to help the community. Volunteers ages 21-49 are eligible for this award.

Direct Service — Older Adult: Recognizes individuals who contributed significant volunteer time, energy, and/or resources in 2021 to help the community. Volunteers ages 50 and up are eligible for this award.

Group Volunteer Service: Recognizes any group of two or more individuals who volunteered together in 2021 for a specific issue or cause. Some group examples are faith-based, civic, membership, and corporate.

Capacity-building: Recognizes individuals who provided significant operational or administrative support in 2021 to a nonprofit agency, faith-based ministry or community organization, or developed an innovative approach to significantly improve an existing program.

Social Justice Impact: Recognizes individuals whose volunteer work in 2021 was centered on dismantling or calling out systemic injustice or oppression and lifting up disenfranchised communities.

Disaster Relief: Recognizes individuals who made a significant contribution to helping Nashville recover from the 2021 flooding, pandemic, or continued disaster relief from events of 2020.

All about this year's awards

We've added a couple of categories and added some fun prizes for the finalists and recipients — and the first 25 nominees!

What do nominees, finalists, and recipients receive?

Award recipients will receive a $1,000 gift card from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and finalists will receive a $250 gift card to donate to the charity of their choice. The first 25 nominators received a $50 gift card to Hattie B's. HON celebrates their nominees, finalists, and recipients on our website, blog, email newsletters, and social media channels — anywhere we can spread the word about these amazing volunteers. They will also be celebrated at a small in-person reception on May 13.

Thank you to our generous Strobel Volunteer Awards sponsors

Click here to learn about HON's sponsorship opportunities

Don't miss out on each year's celebration!

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Strobel Volunteer Awards Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for a 2022 Strobel Award? The 36th Annual Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards celebrates Nashville-area volunteer service performed during 2021. Individual volunteers and volunteer groups are eligible to be nominated.

How many nominations can I or my nonprofit/company/group make? As many as you'd like! Just make sure you're nominating in the best category for the service described.

Can I nominate myself or my group? No, but you can lobby a friend or loved one to nominate you or your group.

I volunteer with my spouse or partner. Can we be nominated together? We love couples who volunteer! Couples should be nominated either individually in one of the categories for individual volunteers, or they can be entered in the Group Volunteer Service category.

What about volunteers who receive payment or benefits for their service? Award nominations are open only to volunteers who do not receive payment or benefits in exchange for their service. Employees who began the year as volunteers for their organization and were hired on later are eligible to be nominated for the portion of their service that was voluntary, and not considered employment. Please be sure to clearly explain the situation in the nomination form!

What if I'm not sure what category a nomination should be in or I have a question not answered on this page? We are happy to help talk you through it! Email hon@hon.org.