It probably won’t get as much attention as the Academy Awards, but the Guilford County health department is getting ready to give out some awards of its own – to people and organizations who advance the cause of public health in the community. The health department plans to give out the awards in mid-December in an effort to shine a light on those in Guilford County who are making important contributions to public health.
Guilford County Health Director Merle Green said the county’s health officials wanted to do something to say thank you, so they came up with the Community Partner Recognition Awards. The winners will be honored at a Thursday, Dec. 13 ceremony and breakfast at The Terrace at the Greensboro Coliseum – a 12,900-square-foot banquet facility that opened in 2011 adjacent to the coliseum. That awards breakfast will also feature a “leader in the world of health”
Green said the awards would help accomplish several things: bring attention to those doing good work in the community as well encourage others to also contribute to public health. She said county health officials wanted to do something for those helping the department.
“It’s a worn out term but we still use the term ‘giving back’ and we wanted to honor those institutions and professionals who add value and support to the department. We are doing it as a way to say thank you.”
Green said in the past the department has given plaques to deserving people and groups, but wanted to do something more visible so they came up with the Community Partner Recognition Awards idea.
Green said the awards would span everything from dentists who are working to enhance the public good to those organizations that provide invaluable support services for the health department.
“It’s a worn out term but we still use the term ‘giving back’ and we wanted to honor those institutions and professionals who add value and support to the department. We are doing it as a way to say thank you.”
It’s also a loaded and misleading term, because it implies that someone is “returning” something to it’s rightful owner. In almost all cases of philanthropy, the donor worked and produced a product/service of value which was traded for money in a voluntary transaction between the buyer and seller. So the money being donated does not belong to and is not owed to the person or organization getting it. It would only properly be termed “giving back” if the money had been taken by force, coercion or deception, in which case giving it back should be considered not a praiseworthy action, but merely the fulfillment of a debt.