Another volunteer from the Morden area will be honoured as the outstanding community citizen of the year in April, and nominations are now being accepted by the Morden Area Foundation.

All nominations are due by Feb. 28 so the selection committee can meet and distinguish the most worthy nominee.

"I think it takes dedication," said last years' award winner, Edith Lovatt. "To be a well-rounded volunteer you would do a diverse number of things with a number of groups of people."

She added that a good volunteer should have an open, non-judgemental attitude because you can't choose who you will volunteer with.

"You've got to be accepting of everybody as they are. It helps to be a person that can find anything to talk about with anybody," she said.

As worthy of the award as the volunteers nominated might be, whether they are selected or not largely depends on how they are nominated. The forms require a description of the person and their work, so a well-written nomination could make the difference between who is selected.

Since receiving the award in spring of  2016, Lovatt said she's had a lot of people thank her for her volunteer work. She said it is wonderful to be appreciated, but also overwhelming since she has never coveted the spotlight in her years of volunteering.

"That's not ever why I did any of the things that I did," said Lovatt. "I did them because I enjoyed the activity or I felt it was a worthy activity."

Lynda MacLean, executive director of Morden Area Foundation said many non-profit and charitable organization rely on volunteers for their help. There are many services in the Pembina Valley that wouldn't exist if men and women didn't step up.

"Volunteers, well they're huge," MacLean said.

In Morden alone, there are 46 registered charities including churches, and all of these depend on volunteers.

"One person gets [the award] for a year when there are a probably a hundred people who are worthy of it," Lovatt said.

Nomination forms are available at the Morden Area Foundation here or at its office at 100-379 Stephen St. Morden.