Time to trumpet those selfless heroes

It’s almost that time of the year again where the red carpet would be rolled out to honour the unsung heroes and heroines at the 2019 Johnson & Johnson and Daily Dispatch Local Heroes Awards.

The Local Heroes campaign, which started in 2015, has seen 48 individuals, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help the less fortunate in their communities, awarded and honoured at a glitzy awards ceremony each year.

Now in its fifth year, the campaign has gone bigger with some added perks.

On top of the R20,000 cash prize that will be awarded to this year’s 12 finalists, one of the past finalists stand a chance to walk away with R50,000 and the “Heroes’ Hero” title.

There is also a competition where close to R16,000 in KFC vouchers are up for grabs.

According to Dispatch Marketing Manager Jennilee Peremore-Oliver the “Heroes’ Hero” concept was to celebrate the past winners and see how they have evolved since being awarded.

At the end of August, when all 12 Local Heroes 2019 finalists have been selected, they will take part in a judging session to select the “Heroes’ Hero”.

The finalists will watch all the videos of the past heroes and vote for the person they feel must be deemed the “Heroes’ Hero”. Peremore-Oliver said the heroes with the most votes will undergo a selection process conducted by a panel established by KFC.

“KFC has always been a partner of the campaign and this year they wanted to get involved in a bigger way, so we came up with the Heroes' Hero concept,” said Peremore-Oliver.

The winner would be announced at the annual Local Hero awards, where KFC would be the official owners of the “Heroes’ Hero” category.

KFC principal officer Grant Wheatley described a “Heroes’ Hero” as someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve in the community, uplifting others and making life better and easier for people, specifically the disadvantaged.

“This is a selfless and courageous person, who makes it a priority to care for others and make a difference in the world,” said Wheatley.

The selected “Heroes’ Hero” would be profiled again by the Dispatch to see how far they were with their projects, with a video taken of their developments.

But there’s even more. From August 2 until September 19 2019, the campaign will be running the “Heroes’ Hero” where KFC customers and Dispatch readers who buy a Chicken Lunch Box valued at R49,90 can nominate someone they consider their hero.

To enter, KFC customers will have to attach their slips to an entry form that will be published in the Dispatch and place their nominations into an entry box at participating KFC outlets. A total of 27 KFC branches from Eastern Cape would be participating in the competition.

According to Peremore-Oliver, customers who buy the Chicken Lunch Box will receive a copy of the Dispatch and inside will be an entry form where they can motivate why they feel their choice deserves to be a local hero.

Those who entered and gets selected in the draw will get a R100 KFC voucher, while their nominee will receive a R500 voucher and stand a chance to be featured in the Dispatch as a 2020 Local Hero.

The Chicken Lunch Box Meal is a filling and satisfying lunchbox meal that consists of three pieces of original recipe chicken, hand breaded using KFC's Colonel’s 11 secret herbs and spices – served fresh and hot with a small packet of chips and a Coke.

Nominations for the 2019 Local Heroes close on August 31, and the 12 successful heroes will receive their awards at a glamorous event on October 31 this year.