Beaufort County Police Activities League is asking the community for help in naming the recipients in a series of awards to be given out during the organization’s annual dinner-dance.

The new program gives recognition to the unsung heroes who put their lives and safety on the line every day to serve the community. Four awards will be given during the dinner-dance: Law Enforcement Officer of the Year-Community Service and First Responder Community Service Award — one of each for a small department and one of each for a large department. A large department is characterized by having 15 employees or more and a small department as having less than 15 employees.

Only members of the community can ensure the process is fair, unbiased and factual. First responders answer thousands of calls each year. Throughout those calls, acts of kindness, characterized as going above and beyond the call of duty, happen daily. It is up to the community to recollect any of those acts and report them and who was responsible to the hotline set up for just this reason.

There are several ways to report such an incident: call or leave a message at 252-948-9439, ext. 30; email beaufortcountypal@hotmail.com; or write a letter to BCPAL, 310 W. Main St., Peterson Building, Suite 202D, Washington, NC, 27889.

When calling, it is important to give as much detail as possible. Callers are not required to give their name, but they should provide: the name of the person they want to recognize; the department the individual works for; the date(s) of the event; a brief but detailed description of what was done by the responder; and why this action represented an outstanding example of community service.

The deadline for submissions is Oct. 30, and the awards will be presented on Nov. 7 at the BCPAL Dinner-Dance.

First responders are the ones who are there when no one else is able to help. They are the ones who risk it all to save those who need help. It is very important for community residents to think long and hard about any encounters they may have had with any law enforcement or other first responders such as fire fighters, EMTs and the like, and report any examples of outstanding community service.

Many first responders work their whole lives performing great acts of kindness and dedication and never get any special recognition. This is a prime opportunity to change that and thank them for the great job they have done.