OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — Knowing that they could not host their annual February Awards Ceremony this year, the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce wanted to do something different, so they set out looking for everyday heroes, and people responded with 107 nominations.

“We just saw so many incredible businesses and just acts of kindness across the community and felt it was very limiting to try to just name only one business and one non-profit for recognition,” said Susan Williams, Chamber President/CEO.

The nominated heroes are listed on the website at https://venangochamber.org/venango-heroes/.

Photos are also included on the web page and a brief description of why there were nominated is also on the Chamber Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/VenangoAreaChamberOfCommerce/.

The chamber felt this was the best approach in 2021 with all of the challenges that people and businesses have faced.

“We want to lift up and recognize those who have served us so well, making Venango County a better place to live, even in a pandemic,” stated the chamber web page and introducing the nominations.

Williams said the Chamber realized quickly it was not going to try to define this too tightly because heroes come in different ways.

”You may typically think of someone that’s kind of a lifesaver — doctor, a firefighter, or people in those kinds of professions…, but in real life, heroes sometimes are just people who say the right thing or do the right thing that is maybe really kind of small or a random act of kindness,” explained Williams.

“There’s also everything between that, with people who just show up at the right time,” she continued. “We also knew that in some cases, it’s an individual, but in other cases, teams. The real hero status belongs to a group of people who have come together and done the right thing.”

An invitation was extended to the community by the chamber in February, and anybody could nominate someone they considered a hero. A nomination form was included on the web page. Upon being nominated, some of the people nominated some else.

“It is a mixture of individuals, organizations, and a few businesses. It is certainly by no means all-inclusive of everybody that deserves to be recognized, but we only recognized those who got nominated.”

“We hoped that the campaign would raise awareness of all the good people and all the good things that are going on in our county.

“It can be really easy, especially in the midst of a pandemic and crisis, and focus on what’s wrong or what’s lacking in the community. This gave us a nice chance to focus on gratitude and appreciation of the many, many good things that happen, day in and day out. These weren’t things that just started happening during the pandemic. These are people that are just good, selfless people all of the time.”

Williams said it was a joy to hear about the nominee and learn about people in the community, many of whom she didn’t know.

“It was wonderful to read about them. And then I had the pleasure of contacting them personally and letting them know that someone that cared very much had nominated them getting their permission to share their picture and their story.”