Dec. 13, 2010
Atlanta, Ga. – Celebrate Positive announced today that University of South Carolina Baseball Coach Ray Tanner has been nominated for the inaugural 2010 United Nations NGO Positive Peace Awards in the Coach category. This award, viewed as a 21st century peace prize, honors and recognizes individuals, businesses, athletes, sports teams, entertainers and schools around the world for their positive contributions.
The 2010 Positive Peace Award nominees are judged by the United Nations NGO Voting Academy comprised of highly respected United Nations NGOs, such as Rotary International, Pathways to Peace, and Sister Cities International. The Voting Academy will use an established criteria of a coach’s community involvement and impact on their community to determine this year’s winner.
“Celebrate Positive congratulates Ray Tanner for exemplifying what giving back to the community means” said Scott Pederson, President and CEO, Celebrate Positive. “Coach Tanner is not only a winner on the field. He is a winner off the field as well.”
“Coach Tanner’s success on the baseball field, as illustrious and unprecedented as it is, nonetheless pales in comparison to what he has given back to the university and to the Columbia community,” said Harris Pastides, President, University of South Carolina. “He has selflessly converted his personal accomplishments into a tremendous dedication to achieving the greater good. We are blessed at the University of South Carolina to have Ray Tanner the coach, but we are doubly blessed to have Ray Tanner the humanitarian.”
Tanner was nominated by Oliver Gospel Mission for his personal involvement with the organization which included helping pack 500 boxes for needy families throughout the Midlands for Thanksgiving, and for his financial contribution through the Ray Tanner Foundation.
“Coach Tanner has a true heart for the homeless”, said Wayne Fields, President/CEO of the Oliver Gospel Mission “He and his family have been helping the Mission over the years not only with their time but financially as well. We are excited to have him back again as this year’s spokesperson.”
Rotary International, with over 33,000 Clubs and 1.2 million members in over 200 countries serves on the United Nations NGO Voting Academy
“We at Rotary International are honored to serve on the voting committee for the United Nations NGO Positive Peace Awards,” says RI General Secretary Ed Futa. “Every day, Rotary’s 1.2 million members address the question, how do we make our world a better place? How appropriate that these awards recognize those individuals and organizations who are asking the same question and taking the necessary steps to achieve positive change in our world.”
The winner of the sports categories for 2010 United Nations NGO Positive Peace Award will be announced in mid December.
About Celebrate Positive
Celebrate Positive, in coordination with the United Nations and its non-government organizations like, Rotary International, Sister Cities International and Pathways to Peace provides a platform to recognize communities, businesses, schools, athletes and entertainers for the positive work to make a difference in the world. Celebrate Positive has created a destination website that provides inspirational news from around the world as well as efforts being made by the United Nations to promote peace globally. For more information on Celebrate Positive or the organizations and agencies they work with, visit www.celebratepositive.com.
