Celebrate community heroes with the Sonoma County Gazette

How do you define a hero? For us at the Gazette, a hero is someone who makes a difference in the everyday. A hero is someone who changes the life of a neighbor, an animal, a child or a friend. A hero is someone whose mission in life is to make their world better than they found it.

Here at the Sonoma County Gazette, we’ll celebrate local heroes during the month of October. We plan on throwing our hats off to our local emergency personnel, healthcare workers, teachers, veterinarians, nonprofits and more. These are the folks in our community who make the sometimes unseen sacrifices to keep us out of harm’s way, to make us better people and to ensure our community is protected, day in and day out.

Additionally, we’ll honor five reader-nominated heroes within the pages of the print and online editions of the Sonoma County Gazette through our Sonoma County Gazette Community Hero Award.

Finally, we’re planning something big and something special: a celebration of ALL our local heroes and everyone is invited. This is the first time the Gazette is bringing the community together -- we’re inviting our local businesses, organizations and nonprofits to participate. The event will be a chance for community members like our readers to meet, interact with, learn from and honor our everyday heroes who make a difference in our hometowns. Families are encouraged to come and dress as their favorite hero; whether that’s Superman, a firefighter, She-Ra or your favorite teacher, we look forward to seeing you there!

If you’re interested in participating as a sponsor, contact the Gazette’s account executive Nicole Mearns at 707-521-5287 or nicole@sonomacountygazette.com. Sponsorship opportunities are exclusive and limited, but vital to the event’s success; with sponsorship we’re able to make the event inclusive to the entire community (and what’s better than that?).

If you’re interested in bringing hero joy to the community, connect with me, the publisher at 707-521-5218 or amie@sonomacountygazette.com.

And if you know a community hero who makes a difference right here in Sonoma County, nominate them as a Sonoma County Gazette Community Hero. Find the link here to nominate your local community hero. The nomination period is open through Sept. 15.

Thank you for helping us at the Gazette celebrate those heroes in our community.