Extending the deadline did the trick for 2013 Citizen of the Year potentials.
When the nomination period closes Thursday, the group responsible will have enough names to work with to announce a shortlist in early September, said nominating committee member Murry Krause.
Finalists for the award, passed out by the Prince George Community Foundation for an outstanding community volunteer, were supposed to be announced on Canada Day. But a lack of nominations prompted the committee to extend the deadline from June 7 to Aug. 15.
Collecting nominations is always a challenge, said Krause, who was named Citizen of the Year in 2000.
Not only are the people most likely to be recognized, the least likely to want to accept the honour, but people are also often too busy to put together the nomination package.
"It's always busy in Prince George," said Krause. "And now that we've extended there was people who had time to put a nomination in."
The award will be handed out during an October banquet event, which also serves as the foundation's largest annual fundraiser. Last year's winner was Evening of Pink founder Monica Peacock.
By announcing the nominees in early September, Krause said hopefully the momentum will build from the shortlist being made public to benefit the October fundraiser.
"We're back into the busy social season in the fall and people will start thinking about whether or not about purchasing tickets," he said. "So the more people who attend, the greater the return is for the foundation."
