Here are the nominees for this year’s Celebrate Portage Awards

Each year, the community-boosting nonprofit Celebrate Portage! hosts an awards dinner to celebrate individuals and organization that work to improve Portage County.

The organization’s eighth annual awards dinner will be Sept. 22 at the NEW Center at NEOMED. You can find more details about the event, purchase tickets and read the full citations for each of this year’s nominees on the Celebrate Portage! website.

Here are this year’s nominees:

Community Hero

Edie Benner, Melanie Dundon, Jerimiah Greathouse, Jordan F Michael, and Pastor Dennis J. Richey

Community Improvement

Hope Town Recovery Housing, Mila’s Hope and Rowyn’s Dreams Playground, and the Main Street Mile in Ravenna

Community Service

Kent State University Habitat for Humanity Chapter, Open Arms Adoption, and The Portager

Economic Development

Buckeye Quality Meats and Moffett

Health Initiative

Celebrating Families at Children’s Advantage, CIT Coordinator & Mental Health Outreach; Food For Life Market at University Hospitals, and Mothers in Recovery Support Group at Townhall II

Youth Initiative

Girl Scout Take Action Project; Mission: Hope & Housing with Cameron Lantz and Brandon Melin; Streetsboro Community Garden with Robb Kidd’s Sociology Class.

Here are the winners of last year’s event.