Humanitarian of the Year Award recipient selected

provided by Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc.

Sheila Michaels is this year's recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Sheila Michaels has been selected to receive the annual Humanitarian of the Year Award for her work promoting literacy and access to information.

Michaels, director of the BookBag program and former school librarian, is the 39th person to receive the award, which will be presented at the Association of Fundraising Professionals–Ozark Region Chapter’s National Philanthropy Day celebration on Nov. 19 at DoubleTree by Hilton, according to a news release. The Humanitarian Award is a partnership between Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc. and the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

“When I think about Sheila Michaels, librarian and equity and diversity advocate, I know she is a servant leader and the best example of a humanitarian I have ever met,” said Haylee Anderson, the educator and instructional specialist who nominated Michaels for the award, in the release. “She has invested her blood, sweat, tears, time, money, effort and passion into making Christian County a more accessible place for its residents."

Through the BookBag program, Michaels partners with businesses and nonprofits to offer pop-up libraries to Christian County students. This summer, the program supported 400 people and distributed more than 1,400 free items.

The Humanitarian of the Year Award honors people in the community for excelling at serving others. The chamber organizes a committee to review nominations and select the annual recipient, and the winner receives a $5,000 cash award that typically is donated to charity.

The 2023 recipient was Heather Lyons-Burney, a volunteer pharmacist and board president for My Neighbor’s Charitable Pharmacy, according to past reporting.