(COLDWATER) – An area resident has been nominated for a state wide award.

Stephen Todd has been nominated by the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency and the Area Agency On Aging Region 3-C for the Michigan Aging and Adult Services Agency's 2021 Senior Citizen Of the Year Award.

The award is given to an older adult whose community has been enhanced through their active engagement, volunteerism, and selfless acts of service to others. They are often the unsung heroes that a community cannot live without and are the special people communities can always count on to help in so many important ways.

CHA Health Officer Rebecca Burns says Todd's efforts to help the agency during the pandemic have been invaluable. As the former Health Officer, Todd volunteered his expertise to assist the agency in planning and design of the multiple testing and vaccination clinics that were held in all three counties. Burns says not only did Todd help in the planning, he could be found outside at almost every clinic in all three counties, no matter the weather, directing traffic and helping to organize.

Laura Sutter, Director of Area Agency on Aging Region 3-C says the sensitivity Todd holds for older adults and people with disabilities was on display as he worked with the Area Agency on Aging division.

Both Burns and Sutter say their organizations are honored to count Steve as a friend in public health and aging as they serve the rural communities in the tri-county area. They say they wouldn't be as successful in their efforts without Todd's thoughtful, generous and dedicated service.