The Bridges of Friendship Award is coming!

UCT’s local councils have been giving back to their communities by supporting and working with worthy causes and organizations within them for well over 100 years. Through these partnerships, councils assist individuals on multiple levels and across a wide range of need, including helping people with intellectual disabilities and mental health issues, seniors, homeless individuals, underprivileged children and families, and veterans, among others.

UCT Charities was established in 1997 to assist individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, primarily by providing scholarships through the UCT Scholarship Program. Over the years, this support has expanded to include other programs and projects that benefit a variety of individuals.

It is in this spirit of support that UCT Charities has established the Bridges of Friendship Award, which will grant two cash awards of up to $5,000 each annually to two local charitable organizations, one in Canada and the other in the U.S. These two organizations will be chosen by the Bridges of Friendship Award committee from nominations of local charitable organizations submitted by UCT local councils that have worked with and supported them. The Canadian organization must be a registered charity and the U.S. organization a 501.c.3 nonprofit organization.

Each local council is entitled to one nomination per year of a local charitable organization that operates, resides, and serves the people primarily within the local council’s own city, county, township, parish, etc. Nominations must be submitted using the approved nomination form only and are due at the UCT home office – not the Canadian office – by no later than April 1. Award recipients will be announced during the UCT annual session. Local councils nominating organizations for the award will earn a point in the Medal of Honor Program.

More details about the award will be coming soon – and will be featured in the autumn issue of The Sample Case. Nomination forms will be sent to local secretaries and available on the UCT website at www.uct.org in October. In the meantime, feel free to contact Kate Chillinsky at kchillinsky@uct.org or at 800.848.0123 x1148 with any questions.

UCT Charities is a 501.c.3 charitable organization and is supported entirely through donations, which may be tax-deductible and are cumulative. If you would like to support the Bridges of Friendship Award through a contribution, please send a check made payable to UCT Charities to: UCT, 1801 Watermark Drive, Suite 100, Columbus, OH 43215.